West Africa led a partial recovery in Q3 2026, yet aggregate demand across the 42 African markets Blask tracks still edged down 1.9% QoQ.
The continent-wide slide that dominated Q2 lost most of its momentum. Nigeria and Ghana both posted double-digit market gains, Kenya ticked up 5.5%, and Ethiopia rose 40.9% on a much smaller base.
Mali and Rwanda moved the other way, with market-level Blask Index down 80.8% and 56.1% respectively, and those two geographies explain much of the uneven brand table below.
Both quarters in this edition use the same 42-market set and the same fresh pull. This piece continues the Q2 2026 rankings.
The Q3 2026 Top Gambling Brands
Each brand’s Blask Index was summed across every African market where it recorded demand in Q3 2026 (July–September), then ranked by the totals.
| Rank | Brand | Countries | Blask Index Q3 | Blask Index Q2 | QoQ |
| 1 | betPawa | 24 | 252 614 111 | 258 415 567 | −2.2% |
| 2 | Betway | 30 | 215 707 760 | 215 208 450 | +0.2% |
| 3 | SportyBet | 22 | 91 656 226 | 80 456 654 | +13.9% |
| 4 | Hollywoodbets | 6 | 76 447 389 | 75 602 949 | +1.1% |
| 5 | Betika | 16 | 38 102 399 | 36 054 344 | +5.7% |
| 6 | Bet9ja | 10 | 33 903 924 | 29 510 303 | +14.9% |
| 7 | Elephant Bet | 6 | 23 085 176 | 25 707 404 | −10.2% |
| 8 | Premier Bet | 22 | 21 971 919 | 32 958 652 | −33.3% |
| 9 | SportPesa | 10 | 18 579 533 | 14 721 944 | +26.2% |
| 10 | NgeNge | 2 | 18 362 997 | 19 445 725 | −5.6% |
| 11 | BetKing | 5 | 17 181 991 | 16 475 616 | +4.3% |
| 12 | 1xBet | 42 | 16 507 803 | 16 381 575 | +0.8% |
| 13 | GameMania | 1 | 14 400 770 | 14 437 663 | −0.3% |
| 14 | Lotto Star | 1 | 14 142 878 | 15 047 765 | −6% |
| 15 | Fortebet | 6 | 12 953 690 | 11 320 069 | +14.4% |
| 16 | Winner Bet | 6 | 11 080 075 | 10 707 071 | +3.5% |
| 17 | Congo Bet | 2 | 10 577 363 | 10 804 227 | −2.1% |
| 18 | YesPlay | 1 | 8 416 528 | 9 231 100 | −8.8% |
| 19 | MWOS | 3 | 8 266 125 | 7 968 380 | +3.7% |
| 20 | Betclic | 4 | 8 231 499 | 8 571 609 | −4% |
betPawa and Betway still account for 51.3% of the Top 20 combined Index in Q3, down slightly from 52.1% in Q2. betPawa slipped 2.2% while Betway held flat (+0.2%), so the gap between first and second narrowed from 20.1% to 17.1%. betPawa’s footprint remains broad rather than deep: Tanzania, Uganda and Cameroon all declined in Q3, while DR Congo and Zambia offset part of the drop.
Betway rotated between markets rather than growing continent-wide. South Africa, still its largest market, fell 2.9%, yet Ghana (+24.2%) and Mozambique (+5%) gained enough to leave the Africa total unchanged. That pattern matches a flat South African market (−0.8% QoQ) where Hollywoodbets continued to absorb most local demand.
Nigeria’s 15.6% market rebound lifted both SportyBet (+16.9% in this GEO) and Bet9ja (+14.8% there). SportyBet’s Africa total rose 13.9%, the strongest move among the top five.
In Ghana, SportyBet demand rose 28.1% as well, which helped the brand recover ground it lost in Q2 when Nigeria and Ghana both contracted.
Markets that moved the quarter
Twenty of the 42 tracked markets grew in Q3 and twenty-two fell. The percentage leaders are not the largest markets: Sudan (+52.3%) and Sierra Leone (+36.1%) top the gainers chart, ahead of Ethiopia (+40.9%), while Ghana (+21.5%) and Nigeria (+15.6%) carry more absolute weight. Zimbabwe (+9.9%) and Botswana (+11%) extended the Southern Africa recovery that started in Q2, while South Africa itself barely moved (−0.8%).
The decline side mirrors the gainers split between chart-topping percentages and operator stories. Mali (−80.8%), Rwanda (−56.1%), and Tunisia (−30.6%) head the all-geo fallers list; Premier Bet’s Mali line fell 77%, while Fortebet still posted a modest gain inside Uganda despite Rwanda’s 56.1% market drop. Farther down the tail, Angola (−15.6%) and Mozambique (−5.8%) continued to soften, which helps explain Elephant Bet’s 10.2% Africa-wide decline.
Ethiopia’s +40.9% market move sits in a regulatory vacuum. The Ethiopian Lottery Service said in September 2026 that it is preparing a stricter relaunch after revoking all sports betting licences in December 2025, with no reopening timetable published. Search demand in Q3 likely tracks public debate and grey-market activity as much as licensed turnover.
The five that grew fastest
| Rank | Brand | Countries | Blask Index Q3 | QoQ |
| 9 | SportPesa | 10 | 18 579 533 | +26.2% |
| 6 | Bet9ja | 10 | 33 903 924 | +14.9% |
| 15 | Fortebet | 6 | 12 953 690 | +14.4% |
| 3 | SportyBet | 22 | 91 656 226 | +13.9% |
| 5 | Betika | 16 | 38 102 399 | +5.7% |
SportPesa’s gain is Kenya-first: demand there rose 33.1%, while Tanzania added a smaller lift. That aligns with a Kenyan market up 5.5% after a flat Q2, and with Betika also growing 2.5% locally after its sharp Q2 drop.
Fortebet’s recovery is almost entirely Uganda (+14.7%), a market that was only marginally positive at country level (+1.3%). Bet9ja and SportyBet both ride the Nigerian rebound; neither has a second market large enough to match Nigeria’s weight.
The five that contracted
| Rank | Brand | Countries | Blask Index Q3 | QoQ |
| 8 | Premier Bet | 22 | 21 971 919 | −33.3% |
| 7 | Elephant Bet | 6 | 23 085 176 | −10.2% |
| 18 | YesPlay | 1 | 8 416 528 | −8.8% |
| 14 | Lotto Star | 1 | 14 142 878 | −6% |
| 10 | NgeNge | 2 | 18 362 997 | −5.6% |
Premier Bet’s fall is Mali-driven. The brand’s Mali line shrank 77% in Q3, while Angola (−13.7%) and Cameroon (+23.4%) moved in opposite directions without changing the overall direction.
Elephant Bet lost ground in Mozambique and Angola, its two largest markets.
YesPlay and Lotto Star reversed part of their Q2 South Africa gains as that market flattened. Both remain single-country brands, so a mid-single-digit swing is enough to land them on this list.
NgeNge held roughly flat in DR Congo, its core market, and drifted down 5.6% at Africa level.
What Q3 2026 signals for the year ahead
The continent-wide contraction slowed to 1.9%, and Nigeria and Ghana both grew in the same quarter for the first time since the Q2 downturn. betPawa and Betway still lead the ranking; MWOS and Betclic entered the top 20 as bet223 and 888bet dropped out. SportyBet, Bet9ja and SportPesa took most of the Nigerian and Kenyan recovery, while Premier Bet’s Mali line showed how one market can shift a multi-country operator.
DR Congo (+4.2%) and Uganda (+1.3%) stayed stable, which kept NgeNge and Winner Bet in the table without the double-digit swings seen elsewhere.
About Blask
Blask is an AI-powered platform for iGaming and gambling market analytics. The company turns fragmented open-source signals into real-time insight on brand visibility, player demand, and baseline revenue metrics, helping teams move first, spend smarter, and reduce risk across global markets
