The Bigger Picture: Why Retargeting is Africa’s Untapped Growth Opportunity
Najib Choujaa, Head of Growth for Africa and the Middle East at Kadam, believes operators should also focus on those who have already shown interest but become inactive. With more than 15 years of experience in digital advertising and performance marketing, he sees retargeting as a way to reconnect with these audiences and get more value from acquisition budgets.
In this exclusive conversation with iGaming AFRIKA Magazine, Najib draws on Kadam’s campaign data from Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Côte d’Ivoire to explain why player reactivation can cost less than new depositor acquisition. He explores the technologies that support this approach across Africa’s mobile-first markets and how AI and privacy considerations could shape the way operators reach and retain players over the next five years.
The African iGaming industry has spent years focusing on acquiring new players, but you have argued that the real opportunity might lie in the players brands are already losing. Why do you believe retargeting is the missing piece of the puzzle?
Most acquisition campaigns generate far more intent than immediate deposits. Operators pay to bring people to the site, but only a small part of that audience converts during the first visit. If an operator treats everybody else as lost, it is effectively paying for interest and then allowing another brand to convert it.
The economics can be striking. In Kadam’s campaign data across South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire, the average post-view cost of reactivating an inactive depositor ranged from $0.13 in Tanzania to $0.49 in South Africa; the corresponding post-click averages ranged from $1.31 to $3.06. In the same analysis, a new first-time depositor from cold traffic was estimated at $10–$20. These are Kadam’s own campaign figures, not a universal market benchmark, but they illustrate the size of the opportunity in a warm audience.
Retargeting closes that gap. It lets an operator continue a relevant conversation with a person who has already shown intent, rather than starting again with cold traffic. In practice, this means moving users through the funnel: from visit to registration, from registration to first deposit, and from first deposit to repeat activity.
It is not an argument against acquisition. Acquisition remains essential for expanding the audience. But without a serious re-engagement strategy, brands are filling the top of a funnel that has holes in it. Acquisition fills the funnel; retargeting prevents value from leaking out of it.
Many operators are constantly chasing more traffic, bigger campaigns, and new acquisition channels. At what point should they stop asking “How do we get more players?” and start asking “How do we get more value from the players we already have?”
They should ask both questions from day one. Retention should not be something a brand discovers only after acquisition becomes expensive.
The practical trigger is simple: once an operator has enough event data to see where players drop off, it should create re-engagement segments. That could be visitors who did not register, registered users who did not make a first deposit, first-time depositors who have not returned, or formerly active players who have become dormant.
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The budget should follow the audience segment that creates the most additional value. Kadam’s data illustrates how different that value can be by market: the average post-view cost of turning a registered non-depositor into a first-time depositor was $0.61 in Tanzania, $0.89 in Nigeria and $2.11 in South Africa. The post-click averages for those same markets were $5.92, $6.27 and $8.71 respectively. These figures are directional rather than a promise of results, but they show why operators should test the value of their existing audience before automatically buying more cold traffic.
The key is incrementality: did the campaign actually bring the user back, or would they have returned anyway? Operators should use holdout groups where practical and evaluate re-engagement against long-term value, not just the immediate conversion.
Kadam combines cookie-based and fingerprint-based retargeting, particularly to address challenges such as limited cookie persistence and different browsing behaviours in African markets. Can you explain how these technologies help operators reach players more effectively?
Cookie-based retargeting is valuable because it can connect advertising to specific on-site actions. If someone viewed a sports market, began registration or reached the deposit page, the operator can place them in a relevant segment and tailor the next message accordingly.
The challenge is that cookies are not permanent. They may be blocked, deleted or unavailable, and mobile users may move quickly between browsing environments. A fingerprint-based approach uses signals such as device, browser, network and behavioural patterns to improve recognition where cookies alone are insufficient.
The important point is not to see these as competing technologies. Together, they make audience recognition more resilient in a mobile-first environment. This matters because the underlying digital opportunity is still expanding: GSMA estimates that 416 million people in Africa used mobile internet in 2024, yet this represented only 28% penetration. That is why operators need journeys that are lightweight, mobile-first and adapted to different levels of connectivity, rather than assuming one browsing pattern for every market.
This technology must be used within applicable privacy and advertising rules. That means clear consent where required, data minimisation, transparent practices, and reliable exclusion controls.
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