pawaPay CFO Advocates for Collaborative Regulation at Africa Gaming Expo
Lagos, 27th February 2025… Global payments service provider, pawaPay’s Chief Financial Officer Aaron Markowitz-Shulman, has called on gaming industry operators and regulators to collaborate closely for mutually beneficial growth.
Markowitz-Shulman who attended the gaming industry regulators briefing held on the sidelines of the Africa Gaming Expo, emphasised the importance of effective partnership to develop sound policies.
During the meeting, Markowitz-Shulman stated, “Although we’re removed from the day-to-day operations, we see how the flows move and we know how regulation—good or bad—impacts everyone’s bottom line.”
“Responsible operators — whether in gaming or payments — want regulation. They want to work with you, the regulators, on sensible policies that protect competition,” he added.
pawaPay connects local and global businesses to Africa’s expansive mobile money user base. The company serves a diverse range of local and international businesses across industries such as licensed gaming brands like betPawa, e-commerce, media, ride-hailing, remittances, and NGOs. It integrates their payments processes with mobile money payments platforms.
Markowitz-Shulman noted that strong regulators will help support the domestic industry and ensure that local, tax-paying companies can compete with unlicensed offshore companies who evade taxes and thus have lower costs.
He highlighted the necessity for robust monitoring, provided that the process remains fair and transparent. “But for these regimes to work, the technology must be sound and monitoring mustn’t stifle competition. It has to be operationally viable to preserve an open market and regulatory accountability,” Markowitz-Shulman said.
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Cautioning regulators against poorly planned policies which can disrupt the entire ecosystem, including payment systems, he urged them to avoid such risks that propel the rise of grey operators. These companies, he noted, exploit policy loopholes to operate in jurisdictions where they are not duly licensed, thereby denying governments the revenue and oversight that compliant operators are subjected to.
“The path to more tax revenue and stronger oversight in the betting sector is working with the big, compliant, and tax-paying companies in the sector,” noted Markowitz-Shulman. He concluded by stating, “There is a genuine alignment, and by working together, regulators and businesses can achieve the shared goal of a thriving, well-regulated market that makes the pie bigger and benefits everyone.”
The meeting was attended by regulators from Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Botswana among others. pawaPay’s call for collaboration underscores the need for a balanced approach to regulation that fosters growth while ensuring compliance and accountability within the gaming industry.
The Africa Gaming Expo brought together industry leaders to share insights, strategies, and forecasts in gaming, fintech and banking, while showcasing the latest technological advancements shaping the future of these sectors.
About pawaPay
pawaPay provides merchants with access to mobile money payments in 19 markets across sub-Saharan Africa. The company’s Application Programming Interface integrates directly with more than 40 of Africa’s largest Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)—including MTN, Airtel, Orange and Vodacom — giving merchants access to over 500 million mobile money wallets. pawaPay also offers comprehensive treasury services, arranging both local and international settlements.
About betPawa
betPawa is a mobile sports betting brand, powered by pawaTech Group, that operates across 17 countries in Africa. betPawa is on a mission to make betting friendly, by providing 24-hour customer support, a user-friendly platform, the lowest minimum stakes and guaranteed payments.
