Over 12 thousand participants are expected to attend this year’s Africa Gaming Expo, tagged AGE 2026, the third in its series scheduled to hold between 24th – 27th March in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Leaders from across Africa and the global gaming ecosystem will converge in Lagos to dissect issues around responsible regulation of gaming operations on the continent.
The Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Lottery and Gaming Authority, Bashir Are, during a press conference held in Lagos ahead of the event, said that the idea is to regulate the sector and help Africa move to global prominence in the technology-driven markets.
The 2026 edition with the theme “Africa’s Gaming Market: Frontier to Prominence,” according to him captures Africa’s decisive transition from an emerging frontier to a structured, investable, and globally significant gaming market.
“The theme reflects growing regulatory maturity, technology adoption, cross-border collaboration, and the increasing role of gaming in revenue diversification and job creation across African economies,” he said
Are who added that the Expo reinforces Lagos State’s position as Africa’s leading commercial, technology and regulatory hub quoted the host of the event, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“Lagos is pleased to host the 3rd edition of Africa Gaming Expo as part of our commitment to innovation, responsible regulation and sustainable economic growth,” he stated.
“It would provides an important platform for collaboration between governments and industry stakeholders, helping Africa move confidently from frontier status to global prominence in regulated, technology-driven markets.”
He maintained that the 2026 edition of the expo which would gather regulators, policymakers, investors, operators, technology providers and compliance leaders from across Africa and the global gaming ecosystem, will feature high-level policy dialogues.
Also, he said it would feature regulatory and compliance workshops, technology and fintech showcases, investor forums, and cross-border partnership sessions.
He also emphasised that the agency has leveraged on the strong outcomes of its previous editions to build the 3rd edition of Africa Gaming Expo, stressing that it is increasing its advocacy and partnering with other relevant organisations to prevent underage gambling.
He maintained that on the continent of Africa, the African Gaming Expo has forged partnerships with South Africa, Gambia, Ghana, Malta, United Kingdom, Jamaica, Brazil among others, to regulate the borderless nature of online operations.
“We have what is called reciprocity enforcement. So we submit report to each other, so you think this is how the operator that is going out of line. So we have those kind of partnership on a global scale,” he added.
“One of the things that we have concluded to implement moving forward is called an African blacklist, we can blacklist operators jointly on the continent. So injury to one is injury to all.”
“So we have to protect the citizens because it’s a form of consumer protection. And if you look at our law in Lagos state, most of our funds are dedicated to interventions.”
“So we intervene in education, school renovations, hospital renovations, fire stations, social and health, because we exist to correct the vices that are associated with gaming.”
“And we are also moving forward now also to now change the narrative, we are introducing e-sports that will deal with algebra, mathematics, psychology. So we are introducing that now, and gaming should not be a job for gambling, but it should be able to promote social health and education,” he concluded.
Chief Executive Officer Africa Gaming Expo, Charles Ekundayo and the Chief Operating Officer, (AGE) 2026, Adenike Oyebamiji, gave insights into how the Expo has evolved and the significant impact it has made on the economy and human capacity development.
They pointed out that the past editions have helped to identify important of collaboration and promotion of standardisation among different gaming markets and regulators in Africa.