Adeleye Awakan, the CEO and Founder of AA Advisory and FindMoreAfrica.com, moderated a panel discussion on the African sports betting market at the SiGMA Africa Summit 2026, which was held on March 4, 2023, at The Grand Arena (GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World).
The panel covered a vast array of topics regarding product development, odds creation and local market fit, focusing on how operators can develop their products to be successful in Africa. In addition to Awakan, experts from SOFTSWISS, Genius Sports and Sportingbet were also part of the discussion; their names include Miranda Guliashvili (Head of Regional Growth for SOFTSWISS), Matt Barker (Regional Head of Africa for Genius Sports) & Brenton Chelin (Head of Product for Sportingbet/South Africa).
Recognising Africa’s diversity
Panel experts opened with the importance of Africa’s diversity, and Guliashvili pointed out one of the main pitfalls new entrants to the continent tend to fall for: thinking of the continent as a whole/homogeneous market leads to strategies that do not resonate with new markets. “You cannot just copy and paste South African methodologies into Nigeria or Kenya,” she said, emphasising that there is a necessity to develop market-specific strategies for each that incorporate local payment methods and local idiosyncrasies in how people gamble.
Chelin further reiterated this message from a different perspective by discussing how successful operators must learn to anticipate the specific idiosyncrasies present in each market. At the same time, football is the number one sport across most of Africa; other sports that can create a secondary fan base are cricket, rugby, tennis, and basketball. If operators do not provide a broad enough offering of sporting events, then they run the risk of having their customers go to other operators for these different sporting events.
Maximising acquisition during tournaments
Much of the conversation centred around the World Cup and ways for operators to leverage that to optimise any customer acquisition and retention. Barker emphasised that while bonuses and promotions are great ways to acquire customers during large tournaments, many more sophisticated strategies are required for long-term retention. Examples of these types of strategies include competitive pricing, bet builders, player props and fast markets, which can help to keep players engaged once the fanfare of big events has subsided. Chelin explains that early engagement is important for operators in retaining players during the peak tournament window.
The growth of bet builders
The conversation also focused on the changing nature of bet builders across Africa. According to Barker and Chelin, there is a lot of growth potential for bet builders or systems where players can combine several different outcomes (ina single match) into one single wager. However, there are some differences between the countries in which these types of systems are used; that is, South Africa has an ‘online-based’ environment, therefore it is very likely that bet builder will be hugely successful in this environment, while retail-led markets/economies do not seem very likely that bet builders would be successful in those types of economies/markets.
Operators can enhance the likelihood of success for bet builders by incorporating cash-out features and/or other types of betting products, and developing and enhancing the features of bet builders to enhance user loyalty/engagement.
Guliashvili compared bet builders to fast-paced games, noting that players in Africa appear to gravitate toward low entry with high reward-type products. There are opportunities for operators to effectively promote their other casino products with bet builders, as well as provide operators with long-term player retention through betting products.
Diversification across sports
One of the recurring themes amongst panellists was to look at ways to broaden your gaming options; operators need to do much more than just focus on football and other professional sports in order to keep players’ interest between seasons. For example, providing in-depth betting opportunities in sports such as horse racing, rugby and cricket will encourage players to continue betting during the off-season. Operators should also provide flexibility in their live betting markets, as well as offer multiple types of handicaps and risk-reward opportunities, that cater to all player types.
Tailored strategies for long-term retention
The session concluded with a consensus that successful sports betting in Africa hinges on tailored products, a diversified portfolio, and a commitment to engaging players across all major events and secondary sports. By combining innovative tools with a deep understanding of local behaviours, operators can drive both acquisition and retention in this rapidly growing market.
For more insights into the gaming and betting industry in Africa, visit the SiGMA Website here.
