The Rich History of Gambling in Africa

South Africa is the oldest betting market with its earliest form of gambling being horse racing that can be traced back to 1797. In 1882 a National Horse racing body was founded and named the National Horse Racing Authority, formerly operating as The Jockey Club of South Africa.

South Africa leads in horse racing today as other African countries joined in, but only SA has full-blown horse racing.

In North Africa, the oldest form of gambling dates back to the late 1600s being the gambling on Thoroughbreds. The most Thoroughbreds are believed to have been bred from 1 or 3 stallions originating from North America.

The West and East Africa are believed to have been gambling for the last 50 years. Some forms of gambling are perceived to have existed even before South Africa, but none developed to the level of Casino in the Sun City in South Africa.

In Kenya, for instance, gambling in casinos has been there since the early 1950s as well as in Egypt in North Africa.

Gambling has always existed in the form of sports betting, horse racing and casinos in since early 1950. This industry has gained popularity within the whole African continent where earlier on, casinos were seen and thought of as dark, uninviting places with poor odds and few choices of games to choose from. Now the world-class facilities all over Africa make billions of revenue from both local and international games through the latest electronic machines.

As at now, Africa has 34 of 54 countries involved in gambling and 131 cities around the gambling nations. There are a total of 260 Casinos with a total of 2,091 gaming tables, 38,414 slot machines, 78 poker rooms, 30 Bingo halls, 12 Horse tracks, 2 lotteries and 8 sportsbooks in their facilities.

Gambling has been more prevalent in South Africa, with over 40 casinos, followed by Egypt with 20 casinos. Other countries are also popular on the continent. These include Uganda, Kenya Botswana, Morocco, Cameroon, Ghana and Namibia amongst others.

Casinos and the Law

In most countries, Casinos are legal, and laws have been created to favour Casino gambling. Authorities have been developed to legalise and license gambling activities and permit the setting up of casinos as well as regulate the existing ones. These laws have caused more illegal casinos to close down and more legal casinos to rise. The rising numbers of interested gamers have led to the need for regulation. This way, the governments through respective Gaming and Gambling Boards have been able to protect a large portion of their citizens from any irregularities and somehow generate revenue from gambling.

Online Casinos

The casino industry has not been left out by technology. This has caused the development of online casinos where gambling takes places which is similar to the land-based or famously known as the brick and mortar casinos. Before this, you had to leave your house to access a casino, but now all you need is a smartphone and a good internet connection to access your favourite game and have fun while winning. This has been profitable since you get to save on some costs that you often incur usually having to buy food or a drink.
Online Casinos are, however, not legal in many countries in Africa but citizens from these countries are more than welcome to gamble in offshore online casinos. There is a large variety of games including but not restricted to the games available in land-based casinos.

These casinos come with great deals for the players. These include welcome bonuses, free spins and free deposit bonuses upon registering to the casino of your choice. Gone are the days you had to look for a cab to take you to your local casino. All you have to is make some coffee and sit back in the couch as you place your bets.

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