African Gaming Industry to Get Continental Ombudsman for Dispute Resolution

The African Lotteries & Gaming Association plans to establish a continental Ombudsman to provide an independent mechanism for resolving disputes across Africa's growing gambling and lottery sector without replacing national regulators.

The African Lotteries & Gaming Association (ALGA) has announced plans to create a continental Ombudsman aimed at strengthening accountability and dispute resolution across the African gambling industry.

The proposal was announced by ALGA Board Chairperson Sebina Hlapolosa during the association's CEOs Forum 2026 in South Africa. The new body is intended to provide an additional independent channel for considering disputes and concerns involving participants in the lotteries and gaming sector.

Importantly, the Ombudsman would not replace national gambling regulators or interfere with their statutory powers. Instead, ALGA wants the structure to operate alongside existing authorities, particularly in situations where disputes involve companies, suppliers or other stakeholders operating across several African jurisdictions.

That cross-border element is becoming increasingly important as online betting, gaming technology and payment services expand across the continent. Operators may now work in multiple countries with different licensing systems, compliance requirements and dispute-resolution procedures, creating cases that can be difficult to address through a single national framework.

ALGA says the initiative is intended to improve fairness, impartiality and confidence in the regulated market. The association has repeatedly argued that closer cooperation between regulators and industry participants will be necessary as digital gambling and technologies such as artificial intelligence transform the sector.

Several important details have yet to be determined. ALGA has not announced the Ombudsman's exact jurisdiction, how the office will be funded or appointed, what cases it will be able to accept, or whether its decisions will be legally binding.

Those questions will ultimately determine how influential the new mechanism becomes. If it develops into an effective independent dispute-resolution channel, however, the Ombudsman could provide another layer of oversight in a market where operators and technology companies increasingly work across national borders.

The proposal also reflects a wider effort to bring greater consistency to gambling governance in Africa. Rather than replacing national systems, ALGA appears to be moving toward a model in which continental institutions help regulators and market participants deal with issues that individual jurisdictions may struggle to resolve alone.