Exclusive: Level Up Your Gaming Experience – Unveiling the Secrets of Top Gaming Platforms in Africa
The African gambling sector is experiencing a remarkable surge, as recent statistics from Mordor Intelligence reveal. The Africa Gaming Market is estimated to be worth USD 2.14 billion in 2024, with projections indicating it will soar to USD 3.72 billion by 2029, marking a substantial growth rate of 11.62% during the forecast period (2024-2029). Africa Gaming Platforms
This impressive expansion can be attributed to the influx of new market entrants, spanning from casino to sportsbook operators, who are injecting significant investments into various countries across the continent.
With an increasing number of players eyeing the African market, there arises a critical need for platforms that are tailored to operate effectively within the region’s unique landscape. Therefore, it becomes imperative to discern the essential features required to thrive in the African gaming market before embarking on any operational endeavors within the continent.
In a bid to find solutions to the above subject matter, iGaming AFRIKA organised a webinar featuring industry experts: Ms. Maha Otu, Director at BetWinner Nigeria, Mr. Rene Maimo, Head of Marketing and Business Development Unit at DME Systems, Mr. Artur Harutyunyan the CEO at BetFounders and Slotpesa, and Mr. Akinlaja Ayofemi, Founder of Shacks Evolution Studios, to answer the following key questions:
- What are the existing competitors offering?
- What are customers interested in or looking for?
- What do they need to know about a sportsbook or casino platform they should have?
- What considerations are important when designing the user interface for easy navigation and quick betting selections?
- Which features should a sportsbook platform have to cater to the needs and preferences of an African punter?
Ms. Otu, felt that the first thing when setting up a platform is its usability and responsiveness across multiple devices, that is, it has to be a responsive platform that can be used on any device whether laptop, tablet, or mobile device. It also has to be able to accommodate any browsers that the user chooses.
She further noted the importance of the registration process, together with deposit and withdrawal methods, “Most sportsbooks should have favourable odds, how easy it is for them to register on the platforms. Registration should be very easy and should have several methods of registration in case one fails,” she said. “How easy it is to make a deposit and withdraw is also a factor,” she added.
Ms. Out went on to advise new market entrants to consider the kind of devices used by punters and hence ensure accessibility of their platforms by all players including those with devices that may not be able to access the internet.
“Every platform should have a light version where people who have a smaller phone have access to the platform as well, and should not be restricted to people having high-end phones, ” she stated.
Ms. Otu couldn’t end her statement without touching on the aspect of localisation, noting that, “a mistake most providers make is to bring the same content for the other market and expect good results. When we have localised content, games that people are familiar with, it’s not difficult to identify with that kind of game or try it out on the platform”.
Mr. Harutyunyan observed that the African market is big with an extremely high number of punters, thus giving investors a variety of options to choose from when selecting their markets of choice to venture into.
Having over six years of experience in the African market, Mr. Harutyunyan’s advice was that the platform has to operate fast while using low data, lite with easy registration, deposit, and withdrawal further complementing the points stated by Ms. Otu. He also added that it is important to require less information during the registration, deposit, and withdrawal processes.
To ensure accessibility of a gambling platform in the diverse African market, Ms. Otu in her remarks said accessibility and internet connection in most countries, apart from South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya, depend on low-end phones. Kenya for instance has SMS betting, where gamers do not need to use the internet. Moreover, she believes that providers and operators need to consider having an offline mode where people can have access to placing bets or having access to platforms when they do not have data at the time. Africa Gaming Platforms
“Even in Nigeria, there are some places without a network and others where the internet is not strong, so in such a place, the gamers should have an option of having access to an offline version of the platform. We should see more innovation across Africa to make it easy for clients,” she further explained.
Ms. Otu further noted that the idea of placing bets through SMS is an idea of making the platforms accessible and making use of it even without data or high-end phones.
Mr. Harutyunyan on his end said that accessibility is a pain for a lot of companies operating in most African markets. He seconded Ms. Otu by noting that there can be an establishment of offline mode for games and casinos as it is the biggest part of the African market, “Many clients are waiting to play offline, it would be a good market to tap,” he said.
“On low internet connectivity, we can try to get games that require less internet and provide services that can work with low service connectivity. One of the best solutions is a mobile app, especially for Android which is very easy to download an Android Package Kit file format (APK). Additionally, the app should be able to work with low internet connectivity,” He added. “Put attention on internet connectivity and check whether there’s low or good connectivity, also introduce SMS betting that doesn’t require any internet and try to understand the market needs. Be simple and clear, the speed should also be very fast,” continued Mr. Harutyunyan.
The moderator of the webinar, Mr. Ayofemi stressed the need to understand what customers want and are using, and if one can penetrate the market
Mr. Maimo was keen to note that the issue of connectivity has remained a preoccupation to most investors and all ideas on how to reduce the size of images to make sure that loading is easy to maximise available connectivity. Africa Gaming Platforms
He also invited operators in Africa to try out USSD betting as it was not yet fully exploited and was a big opportunity to grab a good share of the gaming population. “The take-home message is investors should give a chance to try out USSD betting to reach the markets where people want to bet but there’s no internet connection, especially those in remote villages,” he added.
Abhujeet Sarkar, who was following the discussion live, was in support of Mr. Maimo’s point is that USSD is under-explored in most countries even though most punters are still working with feature handsets.
Lucios Obinna Unegbu, who was watching the webinar online wondered how betting platforms think about customer retention considering the competition in the market. Artur responded by stating that retention is the second most important part of gambling platforms after the acquisition.
Unegbu further added that “everyone has to make decisions on how to move on with retention though it’s not about distributing the players so a lot of features needs to be figured out that will make players come back and play.”
While responding to a question on methods used to mitigate bonus abuse, Mr. Ayofemi stated that the important thing is being able to track the particular user as a user opens multiple accounts to benefit from a said bonus, “if the pipeline of that particular user is tracked, limit the number of accounts he can create”.
Mr. Ayofemi emphasised the importance of considering bonus abusers and their strategies even before running any bonuses and promotions.
Mr. Maimo finalised the session by stating the importance of ensuring players have easy access to customer service, as this would help in customer retention. Africa Gaming Platforms
