Pan-African Network Launches to Strengthen Responsible Gaming
South Africa.- 22 September 2026 | www.zonadeazar.com Responsible gaming organisations, researchers, treatment specialists and other stakeholders have launched the African Responsible Gaming Network, ARGN, a new platform designed to strengthen player protection and coordinate action on gambling-related harm across Africa.
The initiative aims to establish a continent-wide structure for collaboration at a time when online betting and mobile access to gaming products continue to expand rapidly.
Continental Platform
ARGN has been created to connect organisations whose work has largely remained focused within individual national markets.
The network intends to support:
- Research sharing.
- Institutional collaboration.
- Prevention.
- Treatment.
- Education.
- Policy development.
- Player protection.
Lebo Seoheng Named President
The organisation will be led by Lebo Seoheng, Advocacy and Communications Manager at the South African Responsible Gaming Foundation.
Her appointment gives South Africa an important role in the network’s initial leadership structure.
Four Strategic Priorities
ARGN has defined four principal areas for its first stage of development.
The first is the production of a pan-African gambling-harm report, bringing together research, emerging trends and evidence from multiple markets.
Treatment and Support Directory
The second priority is to establish a directory covering:
- Treatment.
- Recovery.
- Counselling.
- Support services.
The objective is to make it easier for people affected by gambling harm to identify available resources across African jurisdictions.
Policy Recommendations
ARGN will also develop policy recommendations and practical measures for regulators and policymakers.
The network wants to help strengthen national responsible-gaming frameworks without necessarily imposing a single regulatory model across Africa.
Coordinated Prevention Campaigns
Its fourth strategic priority will be the coordination of awareness and prevention initiatives that can be deployed across multiple African markets.
Campaigns could be adapted locally while retaining common player-protection principles.
GamblePause Initiative Africa
One of ARGN’s founding members is GamblePause Initiative Africa, established by Ladipo Abiose Akolade.
Akolade said the organisation was created to address the fragmented nature of responsible-gambling efforts across the continent.
Common Principles Rather Than Identical Rules
A central concept behind ARGN is the promotion of common principles rather than identical regulations.
The network recognises that African countries have:
- Different legal systems.
- Different levels of market development.
- Distinct cultural environments.
- Different regulatory capacities.
A single regulatory template would therefore not necessarily work across every jurisdiction.
Protecting Minors
Protection of children and young people is among the basic principles ARGN wants to strengthen.
The network believes effective age and identity verification should form part of minimum player-protection standards.
Stronger Self-Exclusion
ARGN also wants to improve the effectiveness of self-exclusion systems.
Its position is that responsible-gaming requirements need to move beyond formal rules and become mechanisms that affected customers can genuinely use.
Responsible Advertising
Another priority will be stronger responsible-gambling advertising standards.
The network intends to encourage rules capable of reducing harmful messaging and providing greater protection for vulnerable audiences.
Access to Treatment
ARGN identifies access to professional support as another major challenge.
Its strategy extends beyond awareness campaigns towards improving knowledge of and access to counselling, treatment and recovery services.
Action Against Illegal Operators
The organisation also supports stronger action against unlicensed gambling operators.
Its position is that responsible-gaming rules become less effective if substantial numbers of customers continue using platforms operating outside national regulatory frameworks.
Moving Beyond Paper Requirements
ARGN argues that responsible gaming in some African markets remains centred on basic warning messages and surface-level awareness campaigns.
The network wants minimum player-protection requirements to become actively enforced standards rather than simply formal obligations.
Wider Continental Momentum
The launch follows the inaugural Africa Safer Gambling Week, organised earlier this month by the African iGaming Alliance.
That initiative brought together regulators, operators and industry organisations with the aim of encouraging longer-term collaboration around player protection.
Industry Context
Africa’s online betting sector is expanding through:
- Greater digital connectivity.
- Smartphone adoption.
- Mobile payments.
- Growth of betting platforms.
- Expansion of regulated markets.
That growth increases the need for prevention, treatment and research structures suited to the continent’s diverse markets.
Next Steps and Impact
ARGN will now seek to convert institutional collaboration into practical tools that can be used across multiple jurisdictions.
Its pan-African harm report, treatment directory and minimum player-protection standards will provide early tests of the network’s ability to deliver practical outcomes.
The initiative therefore introduces a new regional structure intended to ensure that Africa’s gaming growth is accompanied by stronger and more consistent responsible-gaming measures.
Editó: @fonta
