Eventus assesses the African industry

Ahead of the BiG Africa Supershow, Eventus International’s staff posted its projections for 2019 for the industry in the continent.

South Africa.- The BiG Africa Supershow is just a few days away and organiser Eventus International released an assessment on why the gaming segment will be a major business in 2019. The show will take place on March 25-26 at Emperors Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa and is set to become a major gaming hub in the region.

South Africa

In 2015, PwC South Africa’s senior manager, Sanchia Temkin, reported in the annual gambling sector outlook that gaming industry revenues are expected to make a massive rise to €1.88 billion in 2019. In later editions of the report in 2017 drafted by Pietro Caliccio and Yolan Naidoo, we see that the predicted rise grew even further to €1.94 billion for 2019, which shows that the gaming industry growth is faster than initially thought.

With the 2018 Gambling Outlook still not publicly available, one can only wonder why the gambling industry is performing much better than expected? And whether it will continue this growth trend.

In a more recent report compiled by Gauteng Gambling Board in Nov 2018 titled Latest Gambling Stats, there is one indicator that stands out above the rest. In April 2017, the number of gaming machines (LPM’s) at registered route operators went from 1394 machines to 2266 in the province. If similar growth was experienced in all nine provinces, then this could give one possible reason why growth predictions in 2017 may have increased by an extra billion rand as new sites and machines are being introduced into the market.

Nigeria

However, growth in Africa is not limited to LPM’s and South Africa. Online sports betting has seen tremendous growth in Nigeria. After years of penetrating the market, mobile payment is now starting to create even more massive gains for online sports betting operators. Lagos State Lotteries Board CEO, Seun Anibaba, reported to Reuters in June 2018 that growth in the sports betting sector has been matched by a rise in web payments, according to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), which is owned by the central bank and licensed banks.

In 2016, there were 14 million web payments worth a total €314 million. Transactions soared to 29 million worth €440 Naira in 2017 and in the first quarter of 2018, there were already 10 million mobile transactions worth €145 million Naira. If we are to assume that the growth plateaued after the first quarter and simply multiply the first quarter figures by 4, that would make the online sports betting sector in Nigeria worth around €581 million in 2018. It is highly likely that growth continued its trajectory skyward making it worth much more.

Kenya

Kenya’s growth in the Sports betting sector may have stabilised for now, but with 5G broadband cable on its way down the Eastern side of the African continent, it’s safe to assume that online sports betting and mobile payment will become even faster and more efficient resulting in increased growth. Also, Kenya is one of the most internet-connected countries in Africa and the planet with around 80% of its population having access to the internet.

Sports betting is and always will be the crowned jewel of Kenya’s gambling sector. With major giants such as SportPesa starting up and attaining industry titan status within its birthplace of Kenya. Online sports betting, of course, is the not so secret weapon in SportPesa’s arsenal.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been all good news in Kenya for the last 2 years as legislators have increased gambling taxes on operators (GGR) whilst simultaneously increasing the age restriction on gambling from 18 to 25. To make matters worse, a large chunk of Kenya’s population falls into the 18-25 age group as Kenya – like most of Africa – has a young population. The effect of both legislative reforms has collided resulting in dramatically reduced growth in the gambling sector.

Conclusion

Gambling revenue in Africa continues to grow despite slow economic growth in the region forecasted for much of Africa. Entering the African market is most certainly An intelligent decision for any operator or service provider.

However, Africa is a very complex market that requires much research, information, planning, and networking before making the leap to the new land of opportunity. This is why Eventus International has spent months researching the most relevant and beneficial topics and discussions for the BiG Africa Supershow 2019.