{"id":13890,"date":"2025-12-01T09:32:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=13890"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T14:16:20","slug":"africas-online-gambling-poised-for-growth-in-five-countries-with-mastercard-axian-digital-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/africas-online-gambling-poised-for-growth-in-five-countries-with-mastercard-axian-digital-payments","title":{"rendered":"Africa\u2019s online gambling poised for growth in five countries with Mastercard-AXIAN digital payments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Mastercard and AXIAN\u2019s digital payment rollout is set to expand access to online betting, streamline transactions and unlock new opportunities across five diverse African gambling markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Tanzania.- Two leading payment and fintech companies, <strong>Mastercard<\/strong> and the <strong>AXIAN Group<\/strong>, are set to reshape Africa\u2019s online gambling landscape by rolling out <strong>digital payment<\/strong> solutions across Tanzania, Senegal, Madagascar, the Togolese Republic and the Union of the Comoros. The move will <strong>streamline deposits<\/strong>, speed up<strong> withdrawals<\/strong> and bring previously<strong> untapped markets<\/strong> into the digital fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>partnership<\/strong> introduces <strong>virtual<\/strong> and <strong>physical cards<\/strong>, merchant-acquiring services and mobile-driven payments through AXIAN\u2019s Mixx and MVola platforms. Users can activate cards, track<strong> transactions<\/strong> and access<strong> international services<\/strong>, boosting access in countries with low banking penetration and high <strong>mobile-money<\/strong> usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Erwan Gelebart<\/strong>, Chief Executive Officer of AXIAN\u2019s Digibank and Fintech cluster, said in a press release: \u201cAt AXIAN, our vision is to be at the centre of Africa\u2019s <strong>digital revolution<\/strong>, bringing solutions that empower our customers with relevant and <strong>convenient<\/strong> financial services. Simplify lives, expand access to financial services and empowering our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He underscored AXIAN\u2019s wider strategy to scale its digital<strong> finance<\/strong> footprint across Africa. \u201cThrough this collaboration with Mastercard, we are giving our customers the tools they need to <strong>thrive<\/strong> in today\u2019s interconnected world, whether it is for shopping, for sending <strong>money<\/strong> across borders or for managing their business<strong> securely<\/strong> from a mobile app,\u201d added Gelebart. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Africa\u2019s digital payments <strong>economy<\/strong> is projected to reach<strong> $1.5trn by 2030<\/strong>, creating fertile ground for <strong>fintech-driven<\/strong> entertainment and online wagering. Wider access to virtual cards and seamless onboarding could <strong>accelerate<\/strong> regulated online gambling adoption, although readiness varies across the five countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Diverse betting landscapes across Africa<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Mastercard\u2013AXIAN rollout could <strong>boost<\/strong> online gambling across these markets. Tanzania is ready for controlled growth, Madagascar, the Togolese Republic and Senegal show potential but need more regulatory support, and the Union of the Comoros represents an <strong>emerging market<\/strong> with potential for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tanzania<\/strong> leads the region. The Gaming Board of Tanzania regulates land-based and online betting, targeting TZS24.89bn ($9.22m) in <strong>revenue<\/strong> for 2025\/26. Four-year collections reached TZS260.21bn($96m), with online igaming projected at $7.37m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Madagascar <\/strong>allows land-based casinos under the 1998 Gambling Act but lacks online regulations. Offshore platforms dominate, generating $1,000,00-$250,000 in revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Togolese Republic\u2019s<\/strong> Loterie Nationale du Togo oversees land-based gambling, while online betting remains unregulated. The market exceeded $30m in 2024, with interactive gaming growing more than 80 per cent year-on-year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Senegal<\/strong> has a <strong>strong<\/strong> land-based sector, including lotteries, casinos and sports betting, generating CFA266bn($440m) in 2022. Online gambling remains lightly regulated, though proposed mobile-money tax measures in 2025 reflect <strong>growing links<\/strong> with digital payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Union of the Comoros<\/strong> has minimal gambling oversight, leaving the market largely unregulated. Some offshore operators reference \u201cAnjouan licences\u201d, but their legality is <strong>disputed<\/strong> and no reliable revenue figures exist, highlighting both risk and untapped potential.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/photo-1512941937669-90a1b58e7e9c-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/comesas-new-digital-payments-platform-set-to-transform-african-online-gambling'>COMESA\u2019s new digital payments platform set to transform African online gambling<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mastercard and AXIAN\u2019s digital payment rollout is set to expand access to online betting, streamline transactions and unlock new opportunities across five diverse African gambling markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":13918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Mastercard and AXIAN Group are deploying digital payment solutions across five African markets: Tanzania, Senegal, Madagascar, the Togolese Republic, and the Union of the Comoros. This initiative aims to streamline online betting transactions, enhance financial inclusion, and unlock significant iGaming market potential in regions characterized by high mobile-money adoption and diverse regulatory landscapes.","focusai_entities":"Mastercard, AXIAN Group, Erwan Gelebart, Digibank and Fintech cluster, Mixx, MVola, Gaming Board of Tanzania, Loterie Nationale du Togo","focusai_location":"Tanzania, Senegal, Madagascar, Togolese Republic, Union of the Comoros, Africa, Anjouan","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.85), compliance_legal (0.8), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.75), tech_data (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.95), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Impact Assessment?","query":"What specific regulatory compliance challenges and opportunities does this digital payment expansion present for iGaming operators in the largely unregulated markets of Madagascar, Togolese Republic, and Union of the Comoros?"},{"label":"Market Penetration Strategy?","query":"How will Mastercard and AXIAN's B2B payment infrastructure deployment influence the GGR and NGR growth trajectories for licensed iGaming operators in Tanzania, and what is the projected timeline for significant market penetration across all five targeted nations?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60013,60022],"tags":[60065,60687,45],"class_list":["post-13890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-africa","category-finance-news","tag-digital-payments","tag-fintech-driven-entertainment","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13890"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13927,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13890\/revisions\/13927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}