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Africa report An introduction to online gambling in Africa
An introduction to online gambling in Africa
● A demographic wave ● Gambling growth ● Online gaming prospects
● Moving the goalposts ● To the forum
PART ONE
A DEMOGRAPHIC WAVE
To explain the interest in online gambling in Africa perhaps the best starting point is demographics .
Data pulled together from The Economist shows that the population of Africa is growing more than twice as fast as those of Asia and Latin America – 2.7 % compared to 1.2 % and 0.9 %. And the most populous country in Africa , Nigeria , is set to overtake the US and become the third most populous in the world by 2050 , with more than 400 million inhabitants .
The continent might be poor by global standards but GDP is growing , particularly across sub-Saharan Africa , at between 5-6 % a year , and with it there is an emerging middle class .
Previously predominantly focused on retail betting and lottery gaming , many African countries are now opening up to online gambling , helped by the leaps and bounds being made by mobile payments and telecommunications . The regulatory backdrop is somewhat mixed but it is changing rapidly , with up to a dozen regulated markets already open .
“ While the African gambling market was dominated by retail outlets for a long time , the number of connected users is continuously growing ,” says Alessandro Fried , founder of betting and gaming supplier BtoBet .
“ Local populations still lag behind in access to financial institutions ( hence the resultant low use of debit / credit cards ), but on the other hand , mobile payment gateways are very popular among the locals . All in all , these different aspects provide an encouraging context for operators and service providers to expand in the local online gaming industry ,” Fried adds .
“ I think that the economic story for Africa is going to be amazing over the next decade , provided politics and pandemics don ’ t get in the way ,” says Dave McDowell , chief executive and founder at FSB Technology . “ Infrastructure improvements , international investment , expanding middle classes , mobile banking ; all signs point to growth . I completely buy iGB Market Monitor