Sports Betting East Africa + 2019 came off like a charm in April 12th in Johannesburg, South Africa and Kampala, Uganda, and a rundown of the main insights offers a fascinating and enlightening review of the East Africa landscape.
Tackling Public Stigmas
After a warm welcome from event chair Judith Kiragu, Uganda National Gaming Board CEO Edgar Agaba provided a strategy for tackling public stigmas towards gambling in East Africa--citing non-compliance, illegal operations, and poor CSR and responsible gambling regimes as the leading contributors.
Regulator Discussion
Then regulators from across East Africa went over recent changes, with Uganda and Tanzania representatives agreeing that regulatory harmonization is the current priority for gaining the trust of foreign investors.
Local Operating Barriers
Operators took center stage in the next session to discuss local market barriers in East Africa such as high taxation, signage banning, and high age restrictions.
Getting Sports Betting into Casinos
Local expert Najib Balinda said the two keys are keeping players engaged for longer and offering more chances to win in play at the casino.
Barriers to Entry
Then attendees learned from Lasha Gogiberidze that the main entry barriers to the African market today are Regulation and Culture, Infrastructure and Products.
Networking Night
Day One was capped off by lavish networking events sponsored by Digitain for drinks and then Jim’s Poker Room for the night's much anticipated Poker Tournament.
VIP Risk and Reward
Casino and sports betting professionals discussed the primary challenge of hosting VIP players at East Africa establishments: pushing up operating costs while receiving low returns, and came to the conclusion that a reward-based system is the most effective solution.
Building Brands in East Africa
Clever Advertising's Catarina Marques discussed core brand-building principles for the sports betting sector, reminding all that a brand is not what you say about your company, it's about how players feel about your company.
Engaging Millennials in Africa
In order to modernise products, providers agreed that while product education is vital to educating players, companies need to innovate new games to stimulate engagement in stagnating East Africa sectors such as casinos and lottery.
Overview
The comprehensivity of the coverage for a two day event should speak for itself: SBEA Africa + 2019 was a rousing success which set unprecedented standards for the conference moving forward as it plays a vital hub role in developing East Africa and overall continental benefits from gaming.