From a Shared Table to a Shared Future: Welcome to The CEOs Forum, The Black Table

Africa’s gaming and lotteries sector is moving beyond the case for collaboration towards the practical work of building it.

Across Africa’s lotteries and gaming sector, collaboration is beginning to take on a more deliberate and practical posture.

For years, through forums, regulatory engagements and industry gatherings, we have spoken about the importance of collaboration, harmonisation and knowledge exchange.

These ideas have helped shape a continental ambition for an industry that is better connected and increasingly capable of responding collectively to the changes taking place around it.

But there comes a point when collaboration must move beyond aspiration.

That point is becoming increasingly apparent.

Technology is reshaping participation. Illegal and unlicensed gambling continues to challenge traditional regulatory boundaries. Artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities while raising new questions around oversight. Consumer protection, responsible gambling, youth protection and the sustainability of regulated markets require attention across an increasingly interconnected ecosystem.

It is against this backdrop that Mr Simon Gregory, CEO of SunBet, delivered SunBet’s Partner Address at the ALGA CEOs Forum 2026 — The Black Table.

His address reflected on a sector that is becoming more sophisticated and connected, but also one in which the responsibilities carried by regulators, operators and other institutions can no longer always be considered in isolation.

As he observed:

“We can also see more clearly that many of the opportunities and challenges in front of us are bigger than any one institution or jurisdiction.”

There is considerable weight behind that observation.

A consumer can increasingly move between platforms and markets with ease. Technology develops faster than traditional institutional boundaries. Illegal operators are not necessarily constrained by the same borders within which regulators exercise their mandates. Emerging technologies can create opportunities in several markets almost simultaneously.

In that environment, the actions of one part of the ecosystem can have consequences far beyond itself.

Gregory’s remarks therefore placed partnership within a much larger conversation.

Collaboration is not simply about bringing institutions together for the sake of cooperation. It is about recognising the limitations of fragmented responses to increasingly interconnected challenges.

It also requires acknowledging the different responsibilities around the table.

Regulators must retain their independence and protect the public interest. Licensed operators carry responsibilities around compliance, responsible gambling and sustainable participation. Governments must consider the economic and social implications of policy.

Industry associations and continental bodies have an opportunity to create the connective infrastructure through which these different perspectives can meet.

No single participant carries the entire solution.

A Table Built for Africa

This conviction sits at the heart of The Black Table.

The ALGA CEOs Forum was established around a simple but important idea: bring Africa’s

gaming and lottery leadership out of institutional isolation and create a space in which the continent can speak to itself.

There is significance in simply getting Africa into the same room.

It does not happen often that regulatory leaders from across jurisdictions sit alongside industry executives, policymakers and strategic partners to interrogate the realities confronting the sector.

But the value of the table is not simply determined by who occupies a seat.

It is determined by what becomes possible because those people were brought together.

The Black Table therefore represents a meeting point for jurisdictions, experiences and perspectives — a space where Africa can confront shared challenges while recognising the distinct legislative, economic and social realities of individual markets. This year, that vision expanded through the valued participation of regulators, operators, government representatives and partners from across the ecosystem.

The journey began even before delegates formally took their seats at The Black Table.

Sun International and SunBet hosted the Regulators’ Welcome Dinner, creating an important first point of connection between leaders ahead of the Forum programme.

It demonstrated a dimension of collaboration that can easily be overlooked. Institutions matter, but relationships matter too.

Trust is built through repeated engagement. Knowledge moves when people are willing to exchange experiences. Cooperation becomes possible when institutions understand not only where their mandates differ, but where their interests intersect.

Harmonisation Must Become Practical

The next question is what happens when everyone leaves the table. For Mr Bonga Mngoma of the KwaZulu-Natal Economic Regulatory Authority (KZN

ERA), the answer requires moving one of Africa’s most enduring regulatory ambitions — harmonisation — closer to implementation.

“Harmonisation cannot remain something that exists only in papers and discussions. We have an opportunity, within our respective spheres of influence, to begin taking practical steps towards making it a reality.”

The distinction between harmonisation and uniformity is important.

Africa does not require every jurisdiction to regulate identically. Different markets operate within different legislative frameworks, institutional structures and stages of development.

What harmonisation can offer is a stronger basis for cooperation where interests converge.

It can mean better information exchange between regulators. Greater opportunities to share regulatory experience. More coordinated responses to cross-border challenges. Common principles where appropriate. Stronger visibility over emerging risks. And mechanisms through which successful approaches developed in one jurisdiction can inform thinking elsewhere.

Africa does not need uniformity to achieve unity.

But unity requires more than agreeing that collaboration is desirable. It requires action within the respective spheres of influence that Mr Mngoma describes.

From Conversation to Infrastructure

This is why convening cannot be the final measure of success.Our task now is to turn proximity into progress.

The relationships established around these tables must translate into stronger cooperation.

Conversations must inform practical initiatives. Shared challenges must create opportunities for shared learning.

Where one jurisdiction has developed an effective approach, there should be avenues through which others can learn from that experience. Where institutional gaps remain, Africa should increasingly have the confidence and capacity to develop solutions appropriate to its own markets.

This is where ALGA’s responsibility extends beyond convening.

The work is to continue building the connective tissue between jurisdictions, regulators, industry and other stakeholders; to create platforms through which knowledge can move more freely; and to help continental dialogue mature into practical institutional outcomes.

And ultimately, none of this should be pursued merely for the sake of creating a more coordinated industry.

Gregory brought his Partner Address back to the people whom the industry and its regulatory structures ultimately exist to serve:

“If we get this right, we do not simply create a better gambling industry. We create a safer industry, a stronger economy and a better future for consumers across Africa.”

That statement broadens the measure of success.

A better African gaming and lotteries sector cannot be measured solely through market growth, technological advancement or the strength of individual institutions. It must also be measured through safer participation, effective consumer protection, sustainable economic contribution and regulatory systems capable of responding to the realities of modern markets.

In that sense, collaboration is not the destination.

It is the infrastructure through which a safer, stronger and more sustainable African

industry can be built.

The CEOs Forum has given Africa a shared table. The relationships around that table are strengthening. The appetite for cooperation is increasingly evident.

The next chapter is about what we build from it.

From a shared table must come a shared capacity to act — across institutions, across jurisdictions and, ultimately, for the people and economies of Africa.

Written by: Somila Lehloesa

Publish Date: 29 September 2026