60 Million Nigerians Gamble Daily, Contributing to N600 Billion Gaming Industry
Michael Eja, the Director-General of the Cross River State Lottery Gaming Agency, has disclosed that approximately 60 million Nigerians participate in betting activities every day.
Eja also indicated that Nigeria’s gaming industry currently rakes in between N500 billion and N600 billion annually.
Speaking at the launch of Woskybet company yesterday in Abuja, he noted that the federal government is set to collaborate with state lottery agencies to include gaming industry operators in the tax framework to boost revenue.
Read Also: Nigeria’s New Withholding Tax Regulations Set to Impact Gaming Sector
He additionally remarked that the betting sector in Africa now boasts a remarkable worth of $1 billion, with Lagos State contributing substantially, having generated $243 million in revenue in 2023 alone.
“People are beginning to understand the essence of gambling as the gaming industry sells hope and helps in wealth redistribution, creation of jobs, and revenue generation. The governments at various levels are doing their best to upgrade their platforms and working very hard to ensure that all operators are brought to the tax net.
“Over time, you are going to see improvement in the revenue that the gambling industry will generate towards nation-building. In Nigeria presently, we are doing about N500 Billion to N600 Billion yearly. Nigeria has a population of about 150 million people and presently from the statistics we have, we know that about 60 million Nigerians gamble daily. Do mathematics. We have not even captured 90 per cent of that market.”
