In today's article we will talk about betting in Africa. Primarily, there is a great interest in soccer and betting on this sport all over the continent. It is really a cult. Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa are among the top countries by the number of betting players. The bets are made on a weekly basis and betting in these regions is a kind of hobby for the residents.
When we first started preparing the material, we could not even imagine how popular betting is in these regions. Having analyzed many sources and received first-hand comments, we realized that the material will be not just interesting, literally - obligatory to read!
From the material you will learn the percentage of players in each geo, the target audience of the players, under which sport it is better to choose branding and why the betting in these geo will only thrive.
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa consists of 9 provinces, each of which has its own rules on gambling business. Some of the provisions are common to the entire Republic. As an example, the ban on online gambling and the full legalization of betting platforms, if licensed.
By the way, South Africa is the leading country in the gambling business throughout Africa. Thus, about 50% of the adult population of South Africa bet on sports on a regular basis. Preferences: soccer, cricket, rugby and golf. Half of the bets are on soccer events and there are several reasons for that:
huge interest in soccer (almost every soccer team has a player of African descent);
South Africa has a very high percentage of people aged 15 to 25 years;
the rapid pace of mobile Internet development;
aggressive marketing of betting platforms;
loyal legislation.
The average daily betting amount per player ranges from $12 to $15. However, South Africans prefer to place small bets of $1-$2 on events with high odds.
The rate of betting development in Africa is impressive. On this topic, the BBC has released a documentary Gamblers Like Me: The Dark Side of Sports Betting.
Tanzania
Gambling is prohibited in Tanzania, but betting is not. There are more than 60 million active gamblers, while more than 5.5 million dollars is spent on betting daily throughout the country. One playing Tanzanian, according to bettingsitestz.co.tz estimates, spends 10 dollars a day on bets, and a month - 300 dollars, that is, the monthly salary.
The preferences are soccer, basketball, tennis, rugby and cricket.
The development of online betting has led to an increase in Internet users and saved time. As in South Africa, the amount of bets is microbudgetary, but the bets are made on a weekly basis.
Kenya
The country has 30 sports books, and their total average annual income is estimated at $2 billion. In terms of income, Kenya ranks third on the African continent.
Typical image of a betting player:
a millennium with a low income;
betting mainly through a cell phone;
prefers to bet on soccer events (a survey conducted by GeoPoll showed that 83% of bets are for this sport);
bets are placed primarily by men (69%).
If we compare Kenya with other world countries, the player's income is certainly noticeable. 54% of the population has low and very low income. At the same time Kenyans like to make micro-budget bets, but in larger amounts.
Most players bet once a week and spend $50 per month.
Growing dependency on betting
Across Africa, iGaming analysts are seeing an increase in the number of poor players. These players are spending money on betting in the hope of getting rich. This is being used by unscrupulous betting platforms that are not licensed in any part of Africa. The absence of a betting education makes it difficult for a potential player to understand which platform is not fraudulent.
In addition, the growing dependence is due to a lack of resources for treatment of gambling. In many countries, education about the dangers of gambling is limited and access to treatment is lacking.
The main danger for the poor is getting into the funnel of bets, where every next bet is made in order to recoup the cost of the previous one.
The situation is different for the average population, who place bets for fun on a regular basis (on average, once a week) and less chaotic.
But, in general, the growth of dependence is impressive. The profitability of the betting industry in Africa is higher than ever.
Regulation of betting by the government
The African betting market is younger than the European one, so some legislative bases are only at the stage of implementation or adjustment. For example, a law from 2004 was recently revised in South Africa, which concerned this industry. Such amendments were made as:
a ban on dog racing and dog betting;
restrictions on the number of licenses issued;
centralization of the licensing process.
However, the law has not revised the generalization of rules across South Africa, so there is still desynchronization of the law in all 9 provinces.
The Kenyan government also allows betting companies to operate on the territory, but only if a license is available. The government also requires a $1 million guarantee. In addition, the government has developed a system to monitor betting offices, tracking financial flows and timely payment of tax.
Gambling (including betting) in Nigeria is poorly regulated. Gambling is regulated by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. According to the law of 2005, all gambling in Nigeria is divided into legal and illegal. Legal include lotteries, sports betting and land casinos. The Nigerian law does not mention online playgrounds and there are no restrictions on access to them.