As more countries across Africa begin to open their doors to a legalised betting framework, TVBET believes that new market entrants should pay close attention to the development of live games and the rise in mobile gaming if they want to maintain a loyal player base.
Spoiler alert: COVID-19 has brought tangible changes to the market. Until recently, the majority of African players preferred to place bets and play casinos at land-based points. However, the pandemic had a significant impact on the gaming sector, altering the situation radically.
Quarantine and restrictive measures have forced players to go online. Moreover, the GGR of land-based casinos and bookmakers has also suffered due to the fact that the flow of tourists from Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and China was limited. Prior to COVID, tourists brought a huge share of revenue to bookmakers and casinos.
But after a year of the pandemic that caused the closure of land-based casinos and betting shops in Africa, online gambling platforms began to flourish. The number of new registrations in online casinos is increasing every day which will lead to a dramatic rise in the number of mobile gambling games in the next two years.
Mobile gambling – the new normal?
In Africa, smartphones and mobile apps have emerged as the new gaming platforms. Players are increasingly choosing to play on the go, so mobile casinos will soon replace desktop platforms.
Together with high-speed Internet connections, we believe that 2021 and 2022 will mark the start of a new era of mobile gambling.
Mobile technologies, including both 3G and 4G communications, have also undergone rapid development in recent years. According to The “Africa Gaming Market – Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2020-2025)” report, mobile gaming generates close to half of the gaming industry revenue.
Every year, the number of young people in Africa is increasing, and by 2050 Africa’s population aged between 0 – 24 years will grow by nearly 50%. If current trends continue, TVBET believes that this will result in smartphones and mobile internet becoming the new norm – replacing desktops.
GSMA Intelligence studies also show that South Africa has about 98.6 million mobile phones out of a total population of 57.7 million – that equates to approximately 1.71 mobile phones per person. All this will lead to the fact that game developers and operators should think more about optimising their online games for smartphones and offering content which is convenient to use primarily on mobile devices, not computers.
What do players like?
As recent polls show, circa 75% of the population in Africa has gambled at least once in their life. In that same poll, more than half of the respondents called gambling ‘an exciting time spending’.
The research showed that African bettors have a penchant for wagering on sports such as football, rugby, golf, cricket, athletics and horse racing. But more interestingly, many bettors across Africa have been shown to enjoy the Bingo lottery.
At the same time, more and more Africans are familiarising themselves with TVBET’s unique live games. Our games combine everything that African bettors love – betting and lotteries.
Following some internal research, we found that the most popular TVBET live games for the first quarter were Keno (with 60% of all punters preferring this game), Wheelbet (12%) and 7Bet (11%).
We have taken into consideration the development of our products, which can be tailored to suit mobile devices – something which we believe will help elevate the player experience and not affect the quality of the games themselves.
Therefore, TVBET games offer the perfect solution for online bookmakers and casinos in Africa who want to stay afloat and attract more customers.
According to Emily Asava, our Africa Sales Manager, TVBET’s decision to make the games compatible with mobile devices makes us the ‘perfect match’ for players across Africa.
She said: “Lotteries still remain the most preferred vertical among African punters throughout decades. Each of our games is uniquely developed with this in mind, the reason why we continue to gain popularity within the region.
“We have made betting and interaction with our games to be simple, fun, and easily accessible through our solution that is compatible with the most general of mobile devices, making TVBET the perfect match for players in the African region.”
At TVBET, we’re confident in our belief that those bookmakers and casinos who want to grow in Africa and attract a flow of players should pay special attention to the development of mobile applications and user-friendly sites that don’t suffer lag on smartphones. Paying attention to live games will also make sure that African players are not left feeling indifferent or wanting more from their betting experience.
