Global Integration: SBC Efforts to Purposeful Growth with the 2026 Summit
In a recent interview with iGaming AFRIKA Magazine, Rasmus Sojmark, CEO and founder of SBC and Sports Global Group, shared insights into SBC’s strategic efforts to integrate Africa into the global gaming ecosystem. He highlighted how initiatives such as the African Gaming Forum and the Africa Regulatory Gaming Meetup create opportunities for African stakeholders to collaborate, exchange ideas, and address issues shaping the region.
From inviting the continent’s top gaming decision-makers to partnering with top associations, Rasmus described how SBC is building strategic relationships to support the event’s growth. Additionally, he enlightens how SBC is conducting meaningful engagement with regulatory organisations such as IAGR and IMGL to build a balance in the iGaming business and policy.
iGaming AFRIKA: Africa is becoming more and more present at the SBC Summit every year. What is SBC doing to make sure Africa is part of the global conversations and opportunities being created in the industry and not just creating space for African voices?
Rasmus Sojmark: We talk a lot about SBC Summit being an ecosystem, and I think Africa is a good example of why that’s so important. This year, we’re creating more dedicated opportunities for African stakeholders to connect, exchange ideas and address the issues shaping the region through conference sessions on the main stages, our Africa Regulatory Gaming Meetup and, most significantly, the launch of the African Gaming Forum.
The African Gaming Forum is a dedicated one-day, invite-only gathering during SBC Summit week, designed to bring together operators, regulators, associations, and other key stakeholders from across the continent.
We’ve designed it as a highly curated environment combining focused panel discussions with high-level networking, where those focused on Africa can debate the issues affecting the continent and spend meaningful time together.
We’re aiming for representation from across Africa’s key markets, particularly Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and Botswana, while also building stronger ties with emerging and growth markets across East, West, Southern, Central, and North Africa.
And just as important as who’s in the room is what level they’re at. We want most attendees to be the actual decision-makers: CEOs, founders, commissioners, C-level execs, directors, and association leaders, not just a big audience for the sake of numbers.
We’re also working with organisations already embedded in the African gaming ecosystem. iGaming Afrika is supporting the Forum as our event partner, while our network of strategic partners includes organisations such as the Association of Gaming Operators Kenya, the South African Bookmakers’ Association, the Ghana Association of Sports Betting Operators, IAGR, IMGL and Women in Gaming Africa.
We’ve also formed a new strategic partnership with the Gaming Regulators Africa Forum (GRAF), which I think is particularly important because it strengthens the regulatory side of what we’re trying to build. GRAF will become an Event Partner of the African Gaming Forum and will play a central role in its regulatory programme, including hosting the dedicated GRAF: African Gaming under the microscope panel with senior representatives from gaming authorities across the continent.
At the same time, SBC is supporting the GRAF 2026 Conference in Maputo. That matters because we don’t see this as a one-off partnership built around one day in Lisbon. It’s about developing an ongoing relationship with the regulatory community across Africa and creating stronger links between the conversations taking place within individual African jurisdictions and the wider international industry.
Those relationships are important because, in our vision, the Forum needs to be shaped together with the people already driving the industry across the continent. We don’t want to sit outside Africa and decide what the important conversations should be. The regulators, operators, associations and other stakeholders working in these markets every day need to be at the centre of defining them.
At the same time, we deliberately don’t want the African Gaming Forum to become an isolated African conversation. For me, success isn’t measured by how many Africa-focused panels we have or how many African delegates attend the SBC Summit. Those things matter, of course, but they’re outcomes rather than the objective. The objective is making sure Africa is fully integrated into the global gaming conversation we’ll be having in Lisbon.
An operator from Nigeria or Kenya doesn’t only need to hear about Africa. They also want to understand how operators in Latin America are navigating regulation, what payment innovations are emerging globally, how other jurisdictions are approaching taxation and player protection, and where investment opportunities are developing.
That’s why the Forum takes place within SBC Summit week. It gives African stakeholders a dedicated space to discuss regional priorities with their peers but then connects those conversations directly into a much larger global ecosystem of operators, suppliers, affiliates, regulators, investors and technology companies.
Plus, one of the most important outcomes for us is building something that we can engage with throughout the year. We’re expanding our relationships with African regulators, operators, associations and media partners, developing more African-led content, creating strategic partnerships with organisations across the continent and building a much clearer identity for SBC within African gaming.
That’s the role we want the SBC Summit to play. Not simply giving Africa a seat at the table, but creating the relationships, platform and global connections that allow African stakeholders to help shape where the industry goes next.
iGaming AFRIKA: One of the most interesting additions this year is the Regulatory Gaming Meet-Ups. Regulation has traditionally been discussed in conference sessions and panel discussions, so why was it important to create dedicated networking spaces around these conversations?
Rasmus Sojmark: I don’t actually see them as separate from the conference. I see them as the next step. Our conference programme is where the industry’s biggest conversations happen. That’s where people come to understand regulatory developments, hear different perspectives, and gain insight into what’s happening across global markets. But regulation is ultimately a people business. It’s built on dialogue, relationships, and trust.
We wanted to create an environment where those conversations didn’t have to end when the moderator thanked the panel and everyone left the room. That’s really the thinking behind the Regulatory Gaming Meetups. They give attendees the opportunity to continue those discussions with regulators, legal experts, operators and other stakeholders working in the same markets. You can ask follow-up questions, exchange experiences, compare approaches and build relationships with people you’ll quite possibly be speaking to long after the SBC Summit has finished.
More broadly, I think they represent where the industry is heading. People don’t just want to consume information anymore. They want to participate in the conversation. They want access to the people shaping regulation, not simply the opportunity to hear them speak for 40 minutes.
That’s why we’re so excited about this format. It complements what happens on stage rather than replacing it. You hear the big picture in the conference sessions, and then you have the opportunity to continue those conversations in a much more personal and interactive setting.
Ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to achieve across the whole event. Every part of the SBC Summit should work together. The conference sparks ideas, the networking helps turn those ideas into relationships, and those relationships are often what lead to the biggest opportunities afterwards.
iGaming AFRIKA: Africa is among the regions receiving dedicated attention through the Regulatory Gaming Meet-Up programme. What conversations do you think are most important for African stakeholders to be having right now, and what can the rest of the industry learn from developments taking place across the continent?
Rasmus Sojmark: I actually think it’s important that we don’t frame Africa as a region that’s simply catching up with everyone else. There are certainly challenges around regulation, market maturity and investment that are unique to different African jurisdictions, but there is also a huge amount the global industry can learn from what’s happening across the continent.
One of the biggest conversations right now is how markets can grow sustainably. Across Africa, we’re seeing governments looking to create regulatory frameworks that encourage investment and innovation while ensuring the right levels of consumer protection. Those are exactly the same conversations taking place in Latin America, parts of Europe and North America. The context may be different, but many of the questions are remarkably similar.
That’s actually one of the reasons we introduced the African Gaming Forum this year. Bringing together regulators and associations from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique in one room, alongside a session specifically addressing how the region should approach grey market operators, gives these conversations the depth and focus they need, in a way a single panel at the main summit can’t always provide.
We’re also seeing incredible innovation driven by necessity. Whether it’s mobile-first customer experiences, alternative payment solutions or finding ways to engage rapidly growing digital audiences, African businesses are often solving problems in ways that are incredibly relevant to other emerging markets. That’s why these conversations shouldn’t stay within regional boundaries.
Equally, African operators and suppliers benefit enormously from hearing how businesses in more established jurisdictions have approached regulation, responsible gambling, payments, technology and market expansion. One of the strengths of SBC Summit is that it brings all of those perspectives together under one roof.
That’s exactly why we’ve introduced the Africa Regulatory Gaming Meetup. Yes, it creates dedicated space for conversations that are specific to the continent, but it’s also designed to connect African stakeholders with regulators, operators and experts from around the world. We want people to leave with new contacts, new perspectives and practical ideas they can take back into their own markets.
Ultimately, that’s how I see the future of the industry. The best ideas don’t belong to one region anymore. They come from sharing experiences across borders, learning from one another and recognising that while every market has its own nuances, many of the opportunities and challenges are increasingly global. I think Africa has an incredibly important role to play in shaping those conversations over the coming years.
Read the full interview in our digital magazine:
