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Regulatory mapping: NSoft about Africa’s emerging markets
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iGaming: level up your African experience with facts and stats
Africa as the rising star on the iGaming market has been especially interesting when it comes to a real omnichannel experience. NSoft has been interested in the African market given the fact that there is no barrier to overseas investment or operators entering the market provided they respect and adhere to the regulations as with any other jurisdiction.
In recent years, the number of countries has adopted their own regulatory framework is on the rise and regulations are seen to be of crucial importance providing benefits to all stakeholders being involved in the iGaming industry. As a result, the regulatory framework provides a safer environment to operators, suppliers, and consumers enabling progressive opportunities in every aspect of their interest.
NSoft is aware of the benefits the African market provides and this short overview is to draw a big picture of potentials and regulations that Africa offers.
Kenya – a multi-million dollar gambling business
The Kenyans are African leaders when it comes to betting. It is the most betting crazed nation where 70% of punters bet at least once a week. Even their top Google searches, 11 out of top 20, are overwhelmed with betting related keywords. People in Africa mostly bet over mobile phone or web, and that is why they have the highest number of gambling-related mobile usage in Africa. Retail shops are present, but not as in Europe and some other African countries. Kenya is the birthplace of mobile money, a money method mostly used to top-up betting accounts not only in Kenya but also in entire sub-Saharan Africa. Kenyans enjoy betting on sports, especially football, lottery-style games, and casino. Racing games are not as popular as in some other African countries.
The Kenyan gambling laws were established in 1966 with the introduction of the Betting Lotteries and The Gaming Act.Kenya regulates all forms of gambling and started delivering remote gambling licenses in 2011.
Ghana – an opportunity and an example for other countries in Africa
Ghana is, in general, one of the better-developed countries in Africa, and especially when it comes to the betting industry. It is well known that the iGaming market in Ghana offers predominantly the retail-based betting experience having all of the major regional operators present. During the last 5 years, we’ve witnessed internet infrastructure development resulting in a rapid rise of internet users, ranging from 3M users in 2013 to over 10M in 2018 (29.5M population), registering 35% internet penetration. The rise of internet users affected the operators which started to switch from retail-based to web-based business segment. Currently, there are more than 30 licensed legal entities holding the sports betting license. From NSoft’s experience, punters in Ghana prefer sports betting, greyhound racing, ever-popular virtual football, and draw-based games – like our Lucky 6.
ImageRegarding current regulations in force, Ghana’s Betting Industry is regulated by the Gaming Act from 2006. It regulates the most important prerequisites for the gaming and betting industry, license requirements and penalties for non-compliance with bankroll requirements. Nevertheless, it’s important to emphasize that Ghana has very good state control regulatory system. Namely, the Gaming Act prescribes establishment of Gaming Commission that provides legal solutions aimed to contribute to the legal security of Ghana’s betting industry.
Cameroon – the rising star of the betting industry
Cameroon is a country that is up and on a rising path in the betting industry. With the population of 24.5M, the potential is enormous. It is almost completely retail-based due to the lack of proper internet infrastructure. A number of operators have started offering the web channel, but the time for it to generate some significant numbers is yet to come. There are less than 10 active operators, with one or two regional operators present. The most dominant form of betting is sports betting, while virtual sports are present, but way less popular than in other African countries. This might be due to the fact that most of the retail shops are actually street vendor style shops that are cheap to set up and offer exclusively sports betting.
Gambling is legal in Cameroon, but online gambling is not specifically regulated. The current Gambling Act, written in 1989 and modified in 2004, makes no mention of online gambling. Online gambling is largely unregulated but still tolerated by the government.
Lesotho – lack of experience does not necessarily mean lack of knowledge
Lesotho is a small country and lacking development in many aspects and industries. Surprisingly, this is not the case with Lesotho’s betting industry. The betting industry is developed to the extent it easily surpasses some European countries. Sports betting, virtual games, casino games, mobile apps, retail shops – you name it, they have it. The only limitation they have is their population of 2.2M having only three active operators that are slowly reaching their maximum. The most popular form of betting are sports betting and virtual games, especially drawn based game Lucky 6,which is being followed by virtual football league and lottery betting.
Regarding the regulation, Lesotho is similar to Cameroon. Gambling is legal in Lesotho. The government established its first gambling act in 1989. All regulations and supervisions of gambling activities are provided by the central Casino board. Online gambling is not regulated, and there are no laws or regulations being referred to online gambling under Lesotho’s Gambling Regulation Act. Licenses are issued by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning. are valid for periods stipulated on the license and are not transferable within their validity period and the Minister has the power to revoke such licenses. The governing act is overly prescriptive and tedious and may deter participation in business, especially the small scale operators.
Tanzania – taxes triggering the domino-effect of revenue cut
Tanzania, with its population of 59M, is perceived as one of the biggest potentials for the betting industry. The industry is exponentially on the rise in the past 5 years and just between 2014 and 2016 the sports betting revenue grew by 95%. The retail business was already well developed and in 2016 there were more than 2,000 shops and terminals in the country. The Tanzanian government has invested a lot in the internet infrastructure which resulted in having one of the biggest internet user bases in Africa. Similar to Ghana, the industry expanded to the web and piqued the interest from regional and global operators to move onto the market. The business was successful to providers and operators until GBT (Gaming Board of Tanzania) introduced a series of new taxes from 2016 onwards which slowed the rapid development of the industry and cut revenues to all operators. Punters in Tanzania enjoy sports betting, virtual games like horse racing,virtual football and Lucky 6.
Betting in Tanzania is regulated by the Tanzanian Gaming Act. The Act clearly defines the gaming tax and states that without being a holder of gaming license issued under the Gaming Act, any gaming activity is prohibited.
Africa – understanding the dynamics is crucial
To sum up, Africa has been attracting substantial interest from operators keen to diversify their activities away from costly European countries. At this point, Kenya is the leader when taking in consideration the regulations, potential, and gambling related mobile usage. Ghana and Cameroon are perceived as success stories and a reference for the upcoming changes in the region. NSoft seeks for stable legal frameworks and perceives them as a safeguard for substantial investments, whilst, of course, ensuring the player’s interest.
ICE London – a step towards becoming a powerful player on African iGaming market
ICE London turned out to be a great success for NSoft that exhibited on 288m2 with a new booth design. We showcased novelties and received positive feedback from the market stakeholders. NSoft’s sales team has had a significant number of inquiries from African distributors confirming the positive foresight of the market.
If you missed speaking to us during ICE London, contact us at [email protected] or meet us on ICE Africa, 3-4 October 2019. NSoft will be attending Betting on Football Conference,19-22 March 2019, meet us in London or contact our sales team at [email protected].
Source: European Gaming Media
This is a Syndicated News piece. Photo credits or photo sources can be found on the source article: Regulatory mapping: NSoft about Africa’s emerging markets
A partnership between game developer Turbo Games and iGaming solution provider and aggregator Slotegrator began in November 2022 via the APIgrator game integration solution. Since then, the collaboration has been developing successfully — and now it’s time to analyze what made it successful.
Turbo Games has noticed how the new technologies spreading throughout the industry can work for the good of brand transparency and player loyalty: “We can already see how blockchain technology has made it possible to make betting checks more accessible to players. All you need is a blockchain-hash and a decoder service. We think we will continue to move in this direction. Many traditional online casinos do not offer the possibility to check the bet. Sooner or later we all have to come to this. Perhaps the development of artificial intelligence will help here, because we are already seeing its involvement in all spheres of human life.”
Turbo Games specializes in provably fair games. Provable fairness is a concept where players can verify their wins or losses using blockchain technology — the outcome of the game is dictated by a smart contract and is absolutely random, barring the possibility of any human involvement. Using cryptographic hashing algorithms, the gambling site and the player’s device both generate seeds (random strings of numbers). Players receive a key that allows them to check the results; if the results are the same as the game round they witnessed, it proves that there was no foul play.
According to statistics from Turbo Games, the audience for provably fair games is mostly between 18 and 25 years old. However, there are also players aged 35-40 who prefer traditional games but would like to try something new, and have turned their attention to provably fair games.
There are good odds that the technology of provably fair games will become more popular, if not even commonplace, because it gives players a feeling of transparency and proves that the business is trustworthy without the need to search through dozens of reviews. Whereas many innovations in iGaming simply add entertainment, provable fairness addresses security concerns and reassures players that they’re not being exploited, which is invaluable.
Provably fair games are beneficial for both players and online casinos. Vadim Potapenko, Head of Sales at Turbo Games, comments: “It often happens that the users are not satisfied with the result, because gambling is not only about big wins, but also possible losses. By allowing them to check the fairness of a bet, we make life easier for platforms and players. Of course, this allows us to communicate with partners and users that we work honestly and that’s why they should trust our games.”
Ayvar Gabidullin, Business Development Manager at Slotegrator, adds that “this type of game is now becoming more and more popular and has great potential for both players and game providers in the future. On the part of the player, the advantage is that the player can always be sure that his game is fair and he can independently check any of his bets. And for the game provider, this also simplifies the process of implementing casino games, since now it will not be necessary to obtain the appropriate certificates from independent laboratories before launching new games, they can immediately enter the market with these games and where anyone can check the result and make sure that that there is no cheating with players. Many game providers are starting to look towards this type of game. And as far as I see, many operators are starting to think about adding these games.”
What do players in 2023 need? The iGaming industry is all about reputation and trust. Players have a huge number of platforms to choose from, making them pickier and pickier. There’s an abundance of forums where players leave reviews, so if players view a brand as untrustworthy, there are plenty of places they can share their opinion. Provable fairness not only stops that from happening, it provides evidence to the contrary, giving players something else to talk about.
Slotegrator also recommends investing time and effort into localization and creating an effective and detailed marketing strategy — before trying provably fair technology players need to get to the platform, and there is no acquisition without marketing.
ABOUT SLOTEGRATOR
Since 2012, Slotegrator has been one of the iGaming industry’s leading software and business solution providers for online casino and sportsbook operators.
The company’s main focus is software development and support for online casino platforms, as well as the integration of game content and payment systems.
The company works with licensed game developers and offers a vast portfolio of casino content: slots, live casino games, poker, virtual sports, table games, lotteries, casual games, and data feeds for betting.
Slotegrator also provides consulting services in gambling license acquisition and business incorporation.
More information: https://slotegrator.pro/
ABOUT TURBO GAMES
Turbo Games — a provably fair games provider that belongs to Turbo Stars company — has an ambitious goal to establish widespread recognition throughout the iGaming world. Even though it is young, the company consists of professionals who have been working on the brand for over five years and are even planning to introduce a new brand for a wider audience soon.
Turbo Games also works in Europe, India, and South Africa, where the company sees the most potential and expects the same “hype” as in Brazil.
The portfolio of Turbo Games consists of 21 titles, including well-known games like Mines, Crash X, DoubleRoll, Hi-Lo, and Plinko. The studio releases a game every month. However, not all games are developed from scratch. Wicket Blast and Spin Strike, the last two releases, are based on cricket and the Indian Premier League. Crash X remains the most popular fast game in the Turbo Games portfolio, and the studio reports that crash games enjoy stable levels of popularity. Overall, the main focus of the brand is provably fair games.
More information: https://turbogames.io/
Looking to take your career to the next level in the games industry? Then, Nordic Game Talents is the place to be! Games Factory Talents has teamed up with Nordic Game to bring you Nordic Game Talents.
From Oct 27-29, the online and interactive event is dedicated to recruitment and career building in the creative & games industry within the Nordic region. The event empowers participants to be part of a bigger community and motivates them to explore new paths in achieving their career goals.
Hiring creative & games studios – Supercell, Funcom, Panzerdog, Tactile Games, Gamecan, Fingersoft, Dazzle Rocks, Redhill Games to name a few from the Nordic region will be participating in the event. These studios will share information on their latest projects, work culture and what it takes to be part of their team. The individual games associations from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Estonia will share insights through live sessions on the booming games industry in their respective countries. Career development topics pertinent to job seekers like – How to have a successful first interview, Creative Portfolio reviews will also be discussed.
Experienced game industry professionals and individuals beginning their careers from around the world are welcome to join the event. One-to-one interviews with the hiring studios can be scheduled through the event platform. A great opportunity to get to know the studios and network with game professionals from around the world.
Participating in the event
As a job seeker attending Nordic Game Talents, take a few minutes to fill out a simple registration form. After filling the registration form you will receive a link to the online event platform – PINE, to join the event on 27th October. Participants joining Nordic Game Talents will also receive a free-of-charge pass to the Nordic Game Conference.
To view the complete agenda, please click here and to learn more about the event please visit Games Job Fair
About Games Factory Talents
A Helsinki-based talent attraction agency dedicated to the games & creative industry. Our services include direct recruitment, organizing game job fairs and managing a community of game industry professionals through our GameDev Talent Board.
To learn more about Games Factory Talents visit – Games Factory Talents
810 THE SPREAD
Cumulus Media Launches 810 THE SPREAD, the Bay Area’s First Sports Station Focused on Sports Betting
Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) announces that it has launched the Bay Area’s first Sports radio station focused on sports betting, 810 THE SPREAD. The new station brings sports and sports betting news, information, and insights to the burgeoning and underserved sports betting audience in San Francisco. 810 THE SPREAD will deliver behind-the-book perspectives from experts in a highly entertaining and engaging format. 810 THE SPREAD goes live today on the legendary 810am frequency that has been the 80-year home of historic Talk Radio KGO-AM. Cumulus San Francisco also launched the station’s new website at www.810thespread.com. Kevin Graham, Program Director of Cumulus’ sister sports stations KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT, adds Program Director duties for 810 THE SPREAD.
Larry Blumhagen, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus San Francisco, said: “810 THE SPREAD joins our sports brands KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT for a trifecta of dynamic sports content across four signals and streaming everywhere. We are excited about this new chapter and look forward to serving the Bay Area’s passionate sports fans in an incomparable way.”
Blumhagen added: “This is a bittersweet day for us, as it’s hard to say goodbye to the legendary KGO, which has been a part of listeners’ lives for so many years. We want to thank all the people who have been a part of KGO’s historic run these many years – and the listeners who loyally tuned in to the station. Times change, and we must change with them.”
Kevin Graham, Program Director, 810 THE SPREAD, said: “810 THE SPREAD will be the Bay Area’s best bet for sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts, and we are pleased to introduce sports-betting radio to our community. The station will feature a lineup of expert personalities that deliver unique sports talk and sports betting insights that entertain, inform, and engage, along with Cal Football and Basketball as well as select professional and college sports play-by-play events. While 810 THE SPREAD will feature specific gambling information, we believe our entertaining presentation will make it a favorite for all Bay area sports fans and a perfect complement to the legendary KNBR and KTCT. With its addition, it truly shows Cumulus’ commitment to the Bay area as ‘The Sports Leader’!”
The weekday programming lineup for 810 THE SPREAD includes:
6am-9am – Bet QL Daily – The must-consume show for sports fans and betting fans alike. Hosted by Joe Ostrowski, Joe Giglio, and Erin Hawksworth.
9am-12pm – Jim Rome - Aggressive, informed sports opinions, rapid-fire dialogue, and plenty of sports smack. As one of the most prolific sports talk hosts in America, Rome draws massive tune-in with legions of fans known as clones, who live for Rome’s take on the day’s largest issues in sports.
12pm-4pm – You Better You Bet – Nick Kostos and Ken Barkley have you covered for the best bets on the biggest matchups, the latest line movement and updates in the futures market. We’ll have up-to-the-minute coverage of backdoor covers and bad beats, and the cheers and tears that come with them. It’s sports betting conversation like you’ve never heard before.
4pm-8pm – Bet MGM Tonight – Live sports betting updates for all the night’s games as they happen – plus live “look-ins” for Major League Baseball games in progress. Get the latest scores, sides, totals, props, parlays, futures, and much more with hosts Quinton Mayo, Trysta Krick, and Ryan Horvat.
8pm-12 Midnight – CBS Sports Radio
BetQL Network programming is provided by Cumulus Media’s Westwood One through a partnership with Audacy.
For more information or to stream 810 THE SPREAD, visit: http://www.810thespread.com.
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