Zambia’s gambling culture is young, fast-growing and overwhelmingly built around football. In the smartphone era it has become a mobile-money betting boom dominated by brands like Betway and betPawa, with a national lottery and land-based casinos (mainly in Lusaka and Livingstone) alongside. The sector’s rapid rise has made it both a growing tax contributor and a growing public-health concern.

From racing and lotteries to a betting boom

Organised gambling in Zambia historically centred on lotteries and racing, with land-based casinos concentrated in the larger cities of Lusaka and Livingstone. The transformation came with mobile phones and mobile money: cheap smartphones, Airtel Money and MTN MoMo, and low minimum stakes brought betting to a mass audience within a few years.

Football is the heart of it

Zambian betting is dominated by football. Punters follow the English Premier League, La Liga and the UEFA Champions League closely, and also bet on the local Zambian Super League. Small-stake multi-bet accumulators are the signature format — low cost, high potential payout — and they are placed overwhelmingly via mobile money. Alongside sports, virtual sports, jackpots, crash-style games such as Aviator, and the national lottery round out what Zambians play.

The operators

The market is served by a mix of pan-African and international brands licensed by the BCLB, including Betway, betPawa, PremierBet, Gal Sport Betting (GSB) and BetLion. betPawa in particular built its following on very low minimum stakes, which fits the small-ticket accumulator culture. Land-based casinos remain a smaller, city-based segment.

Attitudes and concerns

Attitudes to gambling in Zambia are genuinely mixed. For many young adults it is normal entertainment bound up with football fandom. At the same time, there is growing concern about harm: the Zambia Gaming Association and other voices have raised alarm about rising gambling addiction, and academic research at the University of Zambia has found meaningful rates of problem betting among young people, including medical students. Broader reviews of Sub-Saharan Africa note that the evidence base is still weak but points to increasing harmful gambling among youth. This tension — mainstream popularity on one side, addiction and financial-harm worries on the other — is the defining feature of Zambia’s current gambling culture, and it is part of why the government has layered on new taxes and levies since 2025.

Responsible gambling

If betting stops being fun, free and confidential help is available in Zambia from LifeLine/ChildLine Zambia. You must be 18 or over to gamble.

Sources

18+. Gamble responsibly.