The Growing Popularity of Online Casinos in Nigeria

When gambling crosses your mind, you probably think about Las Vegas, Macau, and other gambling capitals of the world. While the United States, Europe, and Asia are homes to highly developed gambling markets, Africa also offers great business opportunities to online gambling operators.

In Africa, gambling activities are outlawed in many countries, but in those African countries where gambling is legal, gambling activities are thriving. One of these countries in which licensed and regulated online casinos operate is Nigeria.

Gambling activities in Africa are also legal in Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. Before we take a look at the major factors contributing to the growing popularity of iGaming venues in the world’s second-largest continent, we briefly examine the history of gambling activities in Africa.

According to most historians, Egyptians enjoyed certain forms of gambling around 3000 BC. The oldest dice was also uncovered by archaeologists in Egypt.

History of Gambling

In North Africa, gambling activities have been outlawed and banned for many centuries, including those countries that follow and enforced Islamic laws. When it comes to sub-Saharan African countries, they have been more open towards gambling activities.

More specifically, different gambling activities, including betting were enjoyed by people of sub-Saharan Africa back in the seventeenth century. In sub-Saharan Africa, horse racing betting became very popular in the eighteenth century.

Around the same time, horse racing betting was very popular in South Africa after the country imported thoroughbred horses from China. When it comes to the history of gambling in Western Africa, gambling activities thrived back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries although most Western African countries were influenced by Islamic laws that strictly forbid all forms of gambling. People of Madagascar had also engaged in different gambling activities in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Fast forward to 2021, South Africa is home to the most profitable gambling market on the continent. As previously mentioned, the history of gambling in South Africa dates back to horse racing betting that was popularized in the seventeenth century.

In the last twenty years, South Africa opened doors to numerous international gambling operators, so today South Africans get to enjoy gambling activities at online casinos, online sports betting sites, as well as land-based casinos, and retail sports betting sites.

In Western Africa, gambling activities are mostly outlawed, but Nigeria is more open to gambling. The country’s legislators are working towards tackling illegal gambling activities, but illegal casinos are still thriving in the country. Nigeria is home to several legally-operating land-based casinos, and the Palace Hotel and Casino located in Lagos is the biggest. Nigeria is also home to many reputable, renowned online casinos and you can find the best casino options here.

When it comes to other African countries with thriving gambling industries, Kenya is doubtlessly one of those countries. Kenya has the most lenient gambling laws and regulations of all African countries. In Kenya, gambling activities have been thriving for over five decades as gambling was legalized back in 1996 after Kenyan legislators passed the Betting Lotteries and Gaming Act. As previously mentioned, gambling activities are also legal in Ghana and Uganda.

Nigerian Gambling Laws and Regulations

In Nigeria, all forms of gambling activities are regulated and overseen by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. The National Lottery Act enforced back in 2005 legalized lotteries and several other forms of gambling, including sports betting and land-based casino games.

According to the National Lottery Act 2005, only licensed and regulated online casinos can offer online slot machines. According to the same legal framework, non-skilled casino games are considered illegal.

Essentially, the National Lottery Act splits casino games into illegal and legal games, and legal games are sports betting, land-based casinos, and lotteries.

Speaking of online gambling activities, just like land-based casino activities, iGaming activities are also regulated by the Nigerian Lottery Commission. Gambling operators that want to offer their services to Nigerian residents must obtain licenses from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission.

Current Nigerian gambling laws and regulations do not specifically mention iGaming activities, so Nigerian players can join and play at foreign and local Nigerian gambling sites without any restrictions. While online gambling activities are not mentioned in the National Lottery Act 2005, online casinos operating in the country must follow all of the laws and regulations that land-based casinos follow.

The Growing Popularity of Online Casinos in Nigeria

As one of the most competitive African gambling markets, the popularity of online casinos in Nigeria has been on the rise in the last several years. One of the major factors contributing to the growing popularity of online casinos in Nigeria is most certainly the rise in the Internet penetration rate.

In 2017, around 43% percent of Nigerians used the Internet. One year later, the country’s Internet penetration rate stood at around 43.75%. According to this Statista report, the Internet penetration rate stood at around 46.59% in 2019 and around 49.14% in 2020.

With more Nigerians using the Internet, more are taking up activities like online gambling or Forex trading. Nigerians just like Kenyans, South Africans, and Ghanaians are huge fans of mobile gaming activities. Thanks to the rising adoption of mobile devices, the popularity of mobile casinos in Nigeria has been on the rise especially in the last several years. In the last several years, mobile devices have also become more affordable. This has led to a major rise in the total number of mobile connections in the country.

More specifically, the total number of mobile connections in the country increased by over seventeen million between January last year and January this year. As estimated at the beginning of this year, there were over 187 million mobile connections in the country.

This is a significant 10% increase when compared to the total number of mobile connections back in January 2020. When we add the increasing adoption of mobile devices and the rising number of active Internet users in Nigeria to lenient gambling laws and regulations, there is no wonder why the Nigerian iGaming industry has been on the rise.