Sunbet Enters Namibia as Bede Gaming Powers Third African Market in Under Two Years

Africa’s iGaming expansion has another meaningful case study. Sunbet, the digital gaming arm of Sun International, has gone live in Namibia through its long-standing platform partnership with Bede Gaming. The launch also arrives weeks after Bede Gaming secured AGLC approval ahead of Alberta’s 2026 iGaming market, another sign the supplier is pushing harder into expansion. This is now the third African market the two companies have entered together, and the numbers behind the partnership make this more than a standard rollout announcement.

Key Facts Behind the Namibia Launch

• Platform covers sports betting, slots, and live casino
• Supplier integrations include Kambi, Evolution, Habanero, and Pariplay
• CRM capability delivered through Bede’s partnership with Xtremepush
• Sunbet’s partnership with Bede dates back to 2017
• Botswana launch in 2024 recorded 189% growth in registrations, 239% growth in unique players, plus 370% and 350% increases in wagering and GGR respectively during H2 2025
• Sunbet FY25 income rose 75.9%, while adjusted EBITDA reached R744 million, up 105% year-on-year

Why the Botswana Numbers Matter for Namibia

The Namibia expansion was not built on optimism alone. Botswana already gave Sunbet and Bede a fairly strong proof point.

When Sunbet entered Botswana in 2024, Bede’s platform already carried years of operational history across South Africa. By the second half of 2025, the growth metrics were strong enough to remove much of the hesitation around further regional expansion.

A 350% jump in GGR tends to end internal debates pretty quickly.

At that point, the discussion changes. Operators stop asking whether expansion makes sense and start asking how fast similar performance can be reproduced elsewhere.

Namibia is a commercially logical next move. The country maintains close economic ties with South Africa, while player behaviour and betting habits overlap across both markets. That overlap matters because Sunbet does not need to rebuild its acquisition and retention approach market by market.

The wider commercial backdrop around Sun International is shifting as well. Earlier this year, the company appointed Nthabi Motsoeneng as Chief Marketing Officer, bringing more than two decades of regional consumer marketing experience into the group as it pushes further into omnichannel growth.

Platform Depth and the CRM Advantage

One detail worth paying attention to is the Xtremepush integration.

CRM capability at this level is still not standard in many African market launches, where operators often prioritise acquisition first and layer retention tooling later. Rolling out CRM infrastructure from day one suggests Sunbet views Namibia as a long-term operating market rather than a short-term test case.

The full product rollout matters too.

When Bede and Sunbet first partnered in 2017, South African regulation mainly permitted sports betting and live casino products. Slots only entered the framework in 2022, and that shift materially changed the economics of digital gaming in the market.

Launching Namibia with sports betting, slots, and live casino already integrated shortens the monetisation curve considerably. It also gives Sunbet broader cross-sell potential immediately rather than years into the market cycle.

What This Signals for African iGaming Expansion

There is a fairly clear pattern forming across Southern Africa now.

Established regional operators are pairing with long-term platform suppliers, entering markets sequentially, and carrying operational learning from one jurisdiction into the next. None of this is radically new. The difference is the numbers behind it.

R744 million in EBITDA from Sunbet’s FY25 digital operations is difficult for competing operators to ignore. The wider signal is becoming clearer too. Southern Africa increasingly looks less like an emerging opportunity and more like a scalable growth corridor.

Bede Gaming’s Kirsty Stewart pointed to the strength of the long-term partnership and the operational performance already delivered across existing markets. Sunbet CEO Simon Gregory described Namibia as a natural progression tied to Sun International’s regional footprint and the country’s close relationship with South Africa.

Both executives sound confident. Given the Botswana trajectory, Namibia probably will not be the last stop either.

Source: Bede Gaming