“ Many more growing countries are also influenced by the likes of Kenya , Nigeria , and South Africa . There is even talk now of individual certification to GLi-19 standards as the new norm ” BOBBY LONGHURST , PRONET
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“ Many more growing countries are also influenced by the likes of Kenya , Nigeria , and South Africa . There is even talk now of individual certification to GLi-19 standards as the new norm ” BOBBY LONGHURST , PRONET
keep changing ,” says Zorair Asadour , regional director at BetConstruct . “ This forces providers to be flexible and prepared to quickly adapt to the changes .”
He adds that some regulators have started to implement APIs and request platform providers to replicate customer data and transactions on servers , a task which is both time-consuming and challenging , taking into account the lack of proper APIs and required technical experience .
This view is backed up by Glowacki at SB Betting , who says that working with regulators in Africa is “ highly challenging and requires massive development and hardware to add extra layers of on-the-fly reporting to the regulators ”.
Asadour concurs and adds that as a result , “ implementations can sometimes take months to complete ”. He adds : “ In a nutshell , it ’ s a learning curve for most of the gambling boards in Africa on the way to regulate the industry and fight illegal gambling , money laundering and underage betting , which present a host of socioeconomic challenges .”
TO THE FORUM Help comes from the efforts being made across the continent to spread regulatory best practice via the informal Gaming Regulators Africa Forum ( GRAF ). It includes among its members regulator representatives from 13 of the biggest gaming jurisdictions and its mission is to increase efficiencies in gambling regulation through the adoption of “ minimum norms and standards ” among the member states . “ All of the regulators are very keen to take international best practice and then mould , interpret and adapt it so that it works most effectively in and for their respective jurisdictions ,” says Fried . “ Many more growing countries are also influenced by the likes of Kenya , Nigeria and South Africa , which have their own versions of regulation ,” adds Longhurst from Pronet . “ There is even talk now of individual certification to GLI-19 standards as the new norm . As a result , it looks like there will be more regulation and futureproofing technologies to enable a safer environment to place bets .” Yet , as McDowell at FSB concludes , while general developments are positive , with the path towards more and better regulation likely to continue , there are also guaranteed to be bumps in the road . “ The trend has been very positive and I only see this continuing – and then something like the tax changes in Kenya happen .”
October 2020