SBEA (Sports Betting East Africa), closes the 2019 event held from 9 to 10 April, thanking all exhibitors and visitors, setting up an appointment next year
Last week, from 9 to 10 April, Sports Betting East Africa brought together all the main players and stakeholders on the continent in Kampala, Uganda in order to address and provide valuable information on the major opportunities and challenges of running a company of game in East Africa. Eventus International, organizer of the event, traces the balance of the success experienced during the days of the fair
The Sports Betting Summit in East Africa (SBEA) was an all-round success for all those who participated, spoke and performed. The event was well attended and supported by the most respected and interested gaming sectors in Africa.
With the addition of themes such as casinos, bingo and lottery, SBEA + 2019 has broadened its horizons with respect to past editions. This year’s agenda was developed to shed light on the region’s new opportunities and challenges – be they regulatory, operational or related to the market, while reporting progress on some of the heated discussions and debates that took place last year
SBEA (Sports Betting East Africa) 2019, the report:
Day 1
Judith Kiragu – welcomed with a resounding welcome; the first session was entrusted to the CEO of the National Gaming Board of Uganda (Edgar Agaba), who addressed the bad perception of the games that some citizens have towards gambling in East Africa.
Among the main topics, illegal operations, responsible gaming and the factors that make the gambling industry negative to the public were dealt with.
At the end of the session, regulators across East Africa discussed the latest political changes in Uganda and Tanzania, requiring regulatory harmonization in the sector in order to facilitate and promote investment by foreign investors. Operators have addressed their concerns about high taxation, the prohibition of signage and age restrictions.
Important was the intervention of Najib Balinda who discussed the requirements for obtaining sports bets in casinos. Subsequently, Lasha Gogiberidze discussed the main barriers of the African market by analyzing African regulations and culture, infrastructure and products.
At the end of the various debates, space was given to networking events sponsored by Digitain and Jim’s Poker Room and the night poker tournament.
Day 2
The second day addressed many of the technical and operational challenges in the East African market; affiliates and operators discussed the main differences between affiliates and agents and seemed to agree that both are effective in different business models and markets.
Subsequently, casino and sports betting professionals discussed the risks and advantages of VIP players. If you cover all the costs of having VIP players in your establishment, you can end up bearing high costs and receiving low returns, which is why having a reward-based system is the most effective.
Catarina Marques of Clever Advertising therefore showed the public the fundamental principles of building a brand in the sports betting sector. Interviewed tells – “A key point to take into consideration is that a brand is not what you say about your company, but the way players feel about your company”
Software vendors and operators finally discussed the pros and cons of Omnicanhannel and multichannel. Omni-channel is simpler for the customer and consists of a single account with all its funds, both online and terrestrial. The multichannel instead can be better as it offers operators traceability data that can be easily monitored between online and terrestrial operations.
Suppliers then discussed how to modernize products for African millennials. They noted that product education is a key role in educating players, but more than that, companies need to innovate new games to give new life to obsolete areas like casinos and the lottery.
Eventus International thanks all the participants of the 2019 event and sets new goals for next year with the idea of creating even more engaging content for all interested parties. In the coming months Eventus will return to East Africa to conduct new field research and create interesting content for the 2020 edition.
For all the latest news for exhibiting companies and for more info on how to get your business known in Africa, you can contact Lou-Mari Burnett (Eventus Int. Marketing director)
Email: loumari@eventus-international.com – Telefono: +27829075850
Copyright © The betting coach