LAGOS, Nigeria- Gaming stakeholders have taken the safer gambling message to students at the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Ojo, Lagos, as part of activities marking the maiden Africa Safer Gambling Week, an initiative aimed at strengthening player protection and responsible gambling awareness across the continent.

The outreach, held under the #PlaySafeAfrica campaign, brought together representatives from regulatory bodies, industry associations and responsible gambling advocacy organisations to educate students on responsible gambling, personal limits, self-exclusion, age verification and the importance of maintaining control when engaging with gambling activities.

The Africa Safer Gambling Week, launched by the African iGaming Alliance (AiA), runs from 7–11 September 2026 and is expected to become an annual initiative. It seeks to ensure that the continued growth of Africa’s gambling industry is accompanied by stronger consumer protection, responsible gambling practices and greater public awareness.

At LASUED, stakeholders moved beyond industry discussions to engage directly with young people, using the educational institution as a platform to promote early awareness of safer gambling practices.

Students received informational flyers highlighting responsible gambling practices and available safe-play tools, while speakers explained practical measures players can adopt to maintain control over their gambling behaviour.

Speaking during the engagement, Adetoun Adeyemi addressed issues around gambling responsibly, self-exclusion, monitoring and enforcement, as well as the significance of age verification.

She highlighted the role of enforcement teams in Lagos state in monitoring operators and ensuring compliance with applicable rules and regulations, particularly those relating to age restrictions.

The discussion reinforced the importance of preventing underage gambling and ensuring that gambling activities remain accessible only to people who meet the legal age requirements of 18 years and above.

Olabimpe Akingba, Head of Responsible Gaming at pawaTech and a board member of the African iGaming Alliance, also engaged the students on how to approach gambling responsibly.

Akingba described Africa Safer Gambling Week as an example of the AiA’s commitment to turning collaboration between gaming stakeholders across different African jurisdictions into practical action on player protection.

Another speaker, Fadeke Akeju, stressed that while gambling can be viewed as a form of entertainment, it must be approached responsibly.

The message was clear: gambling should be treated as entertainment, not as a financial investment.

Kayode Lawal, founder SafePlay further spoke on self-exclusion, highlighting the importance of giving players practical mechanisms to step away from gambling when they feel they need to.

Fisayo Oke of Gamble Alert spoke on the 5 years of advocacy Gamble Alert has been doing and how engaging the students in different parts of Nigeria has helped to broaden their campaign on creating awareness for responsible gaming and why young people should not fall victim of gambling.

Omotayo Okewunmi, Senior Advisor at PlaySafe Africa, lauded the initiative by AIA during the Africa Safer Gambling Week as a critical contribution in creating a safe environment for the younger generation.
She stressed that promoting responsible gaming is essential to preventing addiction and other harmful practices to which unsuspecting players may be exposed. She also used the opportunity to urge regulators to adopt more proactive measures to make licensed operators more attractive to players, while taking decisive action to curb the operations of unlicensed operators.

The decision to take the campaign into an educational environment reflects the growing recognition that safer gambling awareness cannot be limited to existing players or industry professionals.

By engaging students directly, stakeholders are seeking to ensure that young people understand the difference between entertainment and financial investment, recognise the importance of personal limits and are aware of tools designed to help players maintain control.

As Africa’s gaming industry continues to evolve, initiatives such as Africa Safer Gambling Week are seeking to ensure that growth is accompanied by greater awareness, stronger regulation and meaningful protection for players.