Sports betting is at an all-time high in sub-Saharan Africa, with millions of people taking part, and billions of dollars generated on a daily basis.
But which countries have the biggest sports betting market in the region?
Here’s our top-five countdown.
Tanzania
The battle for fifth position on our list was a hard-fought one, but Tanzania gets the nod after edging out Uganda and Zambia.
On the back of a sharp growth in mobile penetration and internet accessibility, Tanzania has become one of the fastest-rising sports betting nations in Africa.
Tanzania has not always been the most receptive to sports betting, and there are still people in the government pushing for more stringent anti-gambling measures, but the general feeling is that sports betting has indeed come to stay.
Gambling laws in Tanzania were recently updated to further liberalise betting activities in the country, and the response has been immense, with the government generating billions of shillings in revenue every year.
Ghana
Just outside the Big 3 sports betting nations is Ghana- a country that has made huge strides in the industry in the last decade.
Gambling legislations in Ghana date over half a century, with the first set of laws passed in the 1960s, but it wasn't until the last few years that the industry properly took off.
The backbone of Ghana's gambling surge is the country's booming mobile money market, which has allowed citizens conduct online transactions without any hassles.
Ghana has one of the largest mobile money markets in the world, and this has positively impacted many other industries, including the sports betting industry.
Like many African nations, the Ghanaian betting scene has also benefited from the continent-wide advancement in mobile technology, which has made mobile devices and internet connection more readily accessible to Ghanaians.
Kenya
Speaking of technological advancement in sub-Saharan Africa, no nation has taken bigger strides than Kenya in the last decade or so.
The country is fondly called the Silicon Savannah because of the immense tech growth it has experienced in the last few years.
This has had a great effect in the sports betting industry, with Kenya consistently recording some eye-popping numbers in the sector.
There was a brief period in 2019 when the sports betting industry stalled a bit, following a protracted tax battle between the Kenyan government and the country's biggest operators (a battle which forced SportPesa and Betin out of Kenya), but once that storm settled, betting accelerated again.
Based on the rankings from My Betting Sites Kenya, an affiliate marketing site that rates Kenya's top bookies, betway and 22Bet are amongst the biggest beneficiaries from the struggles of SportPesa and Betin.
About 7 million Kenyans are said to have registered for at least one gambling service in the country.
Nigeria
With a population of over 200 million, Nigeria was always going to feature on this list.
Perhaps the only surprise is that Africa's most populous country comes in at No. 2, rather than No. 1!
Well, in terms of sheer numbers, Nigeria has by far the largest number of sports bettors in sub-Saharan Africa, but from a gross financial angle, the west African nation falls just short of the No. 1 position.
The simple explanation for this is the relatively lower staking power/ currency strength in Nigeria compared to South Africa.
About a third of the Nigerian population are said to be involved in gambling activities, with an estimated annual spend of $2 billion on sports betting alone.
South Africa
South Africa holds the No. 1 position, holding off a strong challenge from Nigeria for the top spot.
They may not be as populous as Nigeria, but they have a very high GDP per capita, which naturally pushes up the staking power of SA bettors.
South Africa already generates around $2 billion via gambling annually, with that figure projected to push very close to the $2.5 billion boundary by 2023.
What also helps South Africa is the multi-sports nature of the country.
Unlike bettors in most other sub-Saharan African countries, who almost exclusively bet on football, the South African market is more diverse, with rugby, cricket, horse racing and tennis betting also enjoying a decent share of the market.