Best African Betting Sites
Online sports betting in Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets on the continent right now. We live in exciting times if you’re a punter living outside the traditional sports betting audiences in Europe and North America. The good news is that this means that there are some top online sportsbooks in Africa fighting to get new customers with great offers and lucrative deals. However, there are dangers to just picking an online bookie and not weighing your options.
African betting sites are not very heavily regulated at the moment, for one. Of course, this depends on which country you’re living in. For example, the gambling laws in South Africa, governing the likes of soccer betting, are vastly different to, say, Nigeria. By and large, though, most regulations are poorly defined and not enforced very well. Most online bookmakers in Africa can freely operate without local licenses.
On one hand, this means that players have access to a huge number of top online sportsbooks. On the other, unsafe sites and shady business practices can pretty much go unpunished. That’s why picking a reputable and safe African bookmaker with remote gambling licenses is very important. You need to know what to look for and where to find it.
That’s why Betting Fellow is here to help you. We make regular online bookmaker reviews and ratings, testing and comparing various betting sites. However, players in Africa don’t have access to all the top online bookies out there. You may want to just look at some great offers and be sure that they accept customers from your country or region. That’s what this list of top African bookmakers is for.
List of Best Bookmakers Africa
Here is a list of the best betting sites in Africa, according to BettingFellow’s impartial reviews and rating system. Importantly, these sites are listed in no particular order – all of them are solid picks. Whether you should go for one or the other is purely a matter of personal preference. We can vouch that all of them are licensed and safe African bookies and that their offers are at least competitive.
If you need more details before you make your decision, you can find in-depth bookmaker reviews for each of these bookies right here on BettingFellow.
1xBet
This site was one of the first to open its doors to African customers. Actually, 1xBet quite quickly saw the growth potential and focused heavily on African countries such as Kenya and Nigeria. This means that they offer an incredible selection of local African currencies and even some languages. Examples include the Nigerian Naira, Kenyan Shillings, South African Rand, Tanzanian Shillings, and even Ugandan Shillings.
Beyond that, there’s no doubt that this is a world-class online bookmaker. The sports betting selection covers enough ground to satisfy even the pickiest of punters. Moreover, the site boasts a comprehensive casino and live casino section, if that’s something you’re interested in.
If we’re talking strictly about African online sports betting, 1xBet’s dedication is downright impressive. It seems like there’s no league too small for them to cover. That way, you can expand your interests to something other than those same old Premier League bets. However, if you just want to stick to online football betting in Africa, you’ll find some of the best betting odds and lowest margins right here on 1xBet.
1xBet is renowned for accepting customers from all over the globe and accommodating them to an admirable degree. If you’re from one of the world’s smaller markets that often get ignored, you’ll know how to appreciate that.
1xBet details
- Minimum Deposit:€1 with all options but Boleto (€4)
- Maximum Withdrawal: €600,000
- Banking Methods: Bank Wire, Debit Card, MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, EcoPayz
- Customer Support: Live chat, telephone, and email open for business 24/7
- Welcome Bonus:100% bonus on the first deposit up to €100
BetWay
Speaking of massive, far-reaching brands – BetWay is one of the most recognisable online betting companies in Africa. Its name is known throughout the world as one of the best in the business. Moreover, BetWay distinguished itself early for being particularly interested in the African market.
As a result, the site also offers a wide variety of African languages and local currencies. They even did some digging and discovered that the majority of African punters do their betting on their phones. That’s why Betway offers one of the best betting apps in Africa and beyond, with a perfectly optimised interface and special mobile bonuses.
The best part about it all is that the site was designed as an online service from the start. This offers a focused experience with incredible betting promotions and site functionality. Few bookies in Africa can stand up to BetWay in terms of UI design and usability.
Throw in low margins and a world-class selection of sports and markets, and you can see why BetWay is the first choice for thousands of African punters. A brand of this renown and size is easy to trust, so you can rest assured that your transactions are secure.
BetWay Details
- Minimum Deposit: $5 with e-wallets, $10 with cards, $50 with bank wire transfers
- Maximum Withdrawal:up to $200,000 per day
- Banking Methods: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Skrill, Entropay, bank transfers. checks
- Customer Support: Live chat, e-mail, phone, WhatsApp, social media
- Welcome Bonus:50% first deposit bonus, up to $200 in free bets
BetFair
If you’re looking for a betting exchange in Africa, BetFair is the way to go. To those of you who aren’t familiar – a betting exchange is a platform that allows players to wager against each other. Instead of playing against the bookie, you can take on their role and put up offers for other punters. Conversely, you can scroll through other players’ offers and hunt for incredible odds and opportunities.
Betting exchanges are arguably the way to get the best betting odds in Africa. Betfair is the world’s leading betting exchange, so it makes sense. A word of warning though: Betfair is very particular about who they allow to use their platform. As such, residents of some African countries may not be able to access and use Betfair. Make sure to check the Betfair terms and conditions before applying.
However, the exchange isn’t BetFair’s only service. The company also offers a regular African online sportsbook. Well, we say ‘regular’, but we just mean that it works like any other betting site. The offers themselves are exceptionally good. Betfair's bookmaker margins sit around 4.3%, which is low even by the highest standards.
With all of the above in mind, we recommend BetFair to experienced bettors who want the best odds online. If you like getting the most value from your wagers and aren’t on Betfair’s list of restricted countries, this is the way to go.
BetFair Details
- Minimum Deposit: upwards of £5 with Debit Cards
- Maximum Withdrawal:from £5500 with PayPal to £32,500 with Skrill
- Banking Methods: Bank Wire, Cheque, MasterCard, Neteller, PayPal
- Customer Support: Customer Service & Wagering staff on duty 24 hours with Live support included
- Welcome Bonus: up to £100 in free bets
888Sport
888Sport may sometimes fly under the radar of lists like these, but it’s still one of the most consistently respected bookmakers out there. They hold a range of excellent remote gambling licenses, most notably in Malta and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. With these at hand, you’ll never need to worry about safety.
Where 888Sport truly shines, however, is their focused approach. 888Sport is a good, solid sportsbook that covers what most punters want without much fluff or unnecessary clutter. A well-rounded sportsbook, excellent in-play betting section, and reasonable payment methods are all you need to have fun. That said, the in-play section stands out as one of the best live betting sites in Africa. If that’s what you’re looking for, look no further.
888Sport is also fairly well-known for its stellar betting promotions and bonuses. From no-deposit bookmaker bonuses to loyalty programs and cash-back rewards, 888Sport gets creative to keep their customers coming back for more.
888Sport Details
- Minimum Deposit:$5 with cards, $10 with e-wallets, $25 with checks
- Maximum Withdrawal:$50,000 for Visa payments, all other methods do not have limits
Banking methods:
Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, Apple Pay, Astropay Card, ecoPayz, MuchBetter, Neteller, PayPal, ProFee, Qiwi, Skrill, WebMoney, Yandex, Nordea, iWallet, bank wire transfers- Customer Support:e-mail, phone, support form
- Welcome Bonus: $30 in free bets after the first bet of $10 or more
How We Decided Which Betting Sites are Best in Africa?
We don’t just recommend any old website. Besides being legal, legitimate, and available to African customers, a site has to tick a lot of boxes before it can get on our lists. Our full review process is long and meticulous, but we can briefly explain what we look for in sportsbooks.
- Licensing and security The most important aspect in any site that deals with real money betting in Africa. The site needs to have a legal background and protect its users with things like SSL encryption.
- Banking Methods.Quickly and easily getting money to the betting site cashier can be tricky for Africans. That’s why carefully look at the available options and their terms of use.
- Markets and odds. The number of available sports, sporting events, and markets for betting. This part of the service makes up the bulk of a bookie’s offer and needs to be varied and competitive.
- Live streaming and betting. Live streaming is one of the more popular ways of betting online, and streamed matches are always a nice plus.
- Betting Promotions. The special offers a bookmaker offers often end up being the thing that makes players chose one site over another. These can seriously increase your earnings if used right.
- Mobile. Mobile betting in Africa is becoming more and more prevalent, which means this is an important factor to look at.
For this list specifically, we also had to consider things like languages, accepted currencies, and coverage of smaller leagues and sporting events.
Online Sports Betting in Africa – Legal Regulations
You want to make sure you’re not breaking any laws before putting down hard-earned cash. Sadly, Africa has a way of making this question more complicated than it has to be. Moreover, a lot of different countries means that some laws can be all over the place depending on the local jurisdiction.
All of this means we can’t give you a simple yes-or-no question to this answer. Instead, we’ll go through some of the bigger African countries and see what their gambling laws have to say.
Best African Betting Sites FAQ
Is online sports betting legal in Nigeria?
Nigeria is a perfect example of poorly defined gambling laws. Technically speaking, online gambling is not legal in the country, but it’s the largest market for sports betting on the continent. To our knowledge, no one ever felt the consequences of this ban. As such, there should be no problems with betting online in Nigeria. The laws specifically target bookmakers, so there is no chance of you as a customer being fined or something like that. Moreover, Nigeria enjoys a range of local bookies as well, giving them more choice than most countries.
Is online sports betting legal in South Africa?
South Africa has some of the strictest gambling laws on the African continent, which its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, this means that customers are protected from shady sites looking to exploit unsuspecting punters. All gambling companies in South Africa must have a license issued by the local governing body. When it comes to large international betting sites, though, not all of them believe accommodating the license is worthwhile. As such, even some of the bookies on our list above may be unavailable to South Africans. Punters from this country have a relatively narrow selection of bookies but can rest assured their rights as customers are protected by the law.
Is online sports betting legal in Kenya?
Kenya issues a local gambling license that allows operators to legally offer online betting in Kenya. However, this extends only to local bookies and companies. The matter of off-shore betting sites is not directly addressed, which may mean that these are in a sort of legal grey area. However, international betting companies in Kenya are many in number and cater to thousands of customers every day. Local punters have access to all sportsbooks that would accept them.
Is online sports betting legal in Uganda?
Mostly yes. Again, there is the issue of off-shore betting companies which are not directly addressed by the law. Still, the local authorities issue licenses, and gambling is legal to everyone over the age of 25. Overall, Ugandans have plenty of legal, safe online bookies to choose from.
Is online gambling legal in Tanzania?
On the flip side, Tanzania has remarkable well-structured regulations that do take into account online and off-shore betting companies. Ironically, though, most of the best and most used betting sites in Tanzania don’t actually own this license. However, the local authorities can’t really punish foreign companies for offering betting to Tanzanians. So what does this mean for the player? Well, whether a site has a local gambling license or not, you can’t be legally sanctioned for using it. The laws specifically address only operators and not users. To keep your options as wide as possible, we suggest looking for trustworthy bookies with licenses like the UKGC.