Eventus International closes its SBEA show
The 4th Annual Sports Betting East Africa Summit was held from the 10th to 11th of April.
South Africa.- Everyone who attended the 4th Annual Sports Betting East Africa Summit was treated to a world-renowned experience. Over 250 African and International Delegates were part of the discussions surrounding the latest regulations, business opportunities and technology in East Africa.
Some of the legislative and regulatory discussions become quite heated when operators and regulators discussed the implementation of Uganda’s new software monitoring and hardware legislations. Operators called for regulators to be lenient in the next few months to allow operators, software and technology providers time to transition.
When East Africa’s leading regulatory boards met on-stage to discuss the future of regulation in East Africa, there was a general consensus that the summit was a phenomenal opportunity to learn from each other and open the channels of communication between Uganda, Mauritius, Malawi, and Mozambique.
The discussion surrounding the 2018 FIFA World Cup took a surprising turn when operators agreed that business during that time would be tough. The main takeaway from that discussion is that Kenyans and Ugandans are only supportive of their national teams if they qualify for the World Cup. Generally, the East African punter is more supportive of the English Premier League than anything else.
The Summit also provided local East African companies with the opportunity to showcase their innovations to the world of iGaming at the Sports Betting East Africa Summit Business Startup Competition. Chekiodds, Edadcoinbox and Kola Studios were all given ten minutes to pitch their ideas to noteworthy businessmen in the iGaming sector such as Jeff Halloran (Sahara Games), Salvation Alibor (Syscomptech) and Nelson Mugisha Mulera (Airtel Uganda).
ChekiOdds pitched their new odds consolidating affiliate programme. The audience and the judges seemed very impressed with Mr Dev Karia’s marketing plan. However, he wasn’t able to win because he wasn’t seeking investment, he was seeking strategic partnerships with East African operators.
Daniel Okolany from Kola Studios took the prize home for numerous reasons. One: he was looking for both investment and partnerships. Two: his concept of creating digitized local card games such as Matatu and Karata was a hit with both the audience and the judges. Three: he already has a massive mobile online player base across Uganda and Kenya. After discussing his victory after the summit, Daniel noted that many of the software providers who exhibited at the summit were interested in porting his games into their platforms and distributing them to operators in the region.
Table Talk Kampala was another success of the event. On the evening of the April 9th, twenty of the sector’s top operators and regulators were treated to an informal discussion about ethics in the gaming sector by Christina Thakor Rankin, accompanied by a delicious three-course meal and drinks.
In conclusion, Eventus International extends its sincere gratitude to the National Gaming Board of Uganda for their tremendous support of the summit and to everyone who attended the 4th Annual Sports Betting East Africa Summit.
