The key to a lottery success story in Africa

The varied markets within the African continent have offered a wealth of opportunities for the last decade or more, and for many it has been arguably the world’s fastest growing region – so much so that Africa also offers the most growth potential over the next 10 years, too.

As anyone with experience of Africa knows, there’s nowhere in the world where lottery is more popular.

With 10 years of working there under my belt, I wanted to share some lessons learned – especially with all those on the supply side that are considering whether to make the leap and invest in the region.

It was 2014 when we first moved into the continent, inspired by a combination of factors: the extensive retail network, our solutions and the regulatory environment.

We saw South Africa as an obvious destination, and it has gone on to become the biggest operational market in Africa for us. Elsewhere, you have the west coast, Nigeria and Ghana, then Kenya and Uganda to the east.

Within all these territories, there were two key factors that we looked at. The established lottery market – which was by far the most advanced on the continent at the time – and the infrastructure. The broadcast infrastructure very much dictates how the African opportunity is currently unfolding, and this will most likely dictate your strategy too.

South Africa’s established market sustains the country’s position as gaming HQ for Africa for the same reason – almost everything starts there. It cannot be overstated just how critical infrastructure is, with many regions still struggling on this front despite much progress.
Having faith
One of the reasons lotteries are a preferred gaming vertical for punters is that it is considered ‘fair’. In Africa, you’re going to be dealing with a different world of trust. One of the many reasons retail is preferred is that players actually have more faith in the bookmaker if they can collect their winnings in person, rather than believing it is there waiting in the digital space.

As a result, that will be your second task once you have a player base. You will need to showcase how trustworthy and transparent your products are.

The key draw (no pun intended) for lottery is the ability to provide low-stakes entertainment that caters to the bet small and win big approach that is enjoyed by many. If you can demonstrate a fair chance to win, and customers believe your product can be trusted to deliver that for either them or their friends, then they’ll come back for more.

Retail is also a massive part of African betting culture – ignore it at your peril. While you see markets such as the UK, which largely sees betting shops as rather old-school add-ons to online operations, a trip to any African betting shop, from Nigeria to South Africa, will confirm that retail is a completely different proposition.

That contrast becomes more marked as you dive deeper into the existing and prevailing market conditions. Online is all about dynamic game flow, frequent draws and instant outcome, whereas the reality for retail is very different.

Land-based products should offer breaks to players, to cater for socialising, developing betting strategies and waiting for a specific draw to happen with their lucky combinations. Of course, we, as the supplier, could run draw after draw with no breaks – but, for players, this is not acceptable as they have strategies that they follow and if they can’t keep track of all the draws in linear fashion, they can’t rely on their tactics and the product loses its allure.

Free Wi-Fi is also a must, as are food and drink offers, but – most importantly – there must be trust. Players want to see something tangible, to see bricks and mortar, as there is still a significant confidence issue. Online players meanwhile are very data conscious, given the high cost of data in relation to individual earnings.

There is no doubt that every B2C company in the industry would like to convert retail players to online, but I can’t imagine it happening extensively in Africa any time soon. Africa’s unique operating environment will evolve over the next decade and the balance of power is slowly shifting, for sure. The social aspect of gaming means that players will always want to enjoy the experience in groups, whether that’s in-shop or via mobile – and I don’t expect that to change.

Africa, in my view, is one of the brightest, most dynamic growth regions for gaming. I believe the future will be shaped by player demand, and this will see fast-evolving improvements in the mobile betting space, as will an increase in usability thanks to advancements in mobile infrastructure, better quality handsets and more stable and powerful data services.

It’s a fascinating continent to do business in, and that vibrancy and opportunity will always be there for those that undertake the right due diligence, and most importantly, remain flexible enough to adapt their proposal to suit.

Aiste Garneviciene has established BetGames as one of the industry’s most exciting live dealer and betting games suppliers, thanks to providing a uniquely immersive betting experience, coupled with a highly capable growth strategy developed under her leadership. Garneviciene has been integral to developing and promoting its unique live dealer products in her role as COO, focusing on introducing the vertical to new regions. With nearly a decade’s worth of hard work and success behind her at BetGames, she has overseen one of the most successful commercial growth periods in the company’s history.