The Next Normal of Punters in Africa iGaming Industry

Punter behavior has changed radically in response to the Covid-19 lockdown in Africa. Understanding which changes are likely to stick to players is vital for gaming companies as a retail form of betting dominated the region for much of the years, particularly the emergence of sports betting in Africa.

However, the world begins its slow pivot from managing the health crisis to recovery and the reopening of economies for essential activities such as the commercial flight resumptions, tourism sectors, and sports events worldwide. However, it is evident that the lockdown has had a profound impact on how people live. The period of contagion, self-isolation, and economic uncertainty has changed all sectors. In the gaming industry, how enthusiast bettors behave in some African countries is encouraging for stakeholders despite the long-overdue online betting after seeing substantial numbers of punters placing a bet online. Especially those that usually like to use cash to bet turn to iGaming betting. But still, since the ease of lockdown in some African countries, the contention now is, do we think players will stick to the now-familiar experience of placing a bet online?

Consequently, it is still a question that is yet to be answered for some depending on so many factors affecting the region, such as technology enablement, internet penetration, expensive data, and financial exclusion, overall Africa’s digital divide. But for some African countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, there is this rapid shift from retail to iGaming betting. If anything, the health crisis probably accelerated is the shift from betting in the shop to iGaming betting. Suddenly became a high demand commodity, and enthusiasts punters who have never gone online to place a bet suddenly turned into prolific digital bettors; this is one area the outbreak of the virus has accelerated in Africa. Even though longer-term changes are still being formed, as said above, the question yet to be answered, will punters return to betting in the shop or stick to the online experience since the ease of lockdown in most African countries?

Hence gaming companies have an opportunity, if they act now, to help shape the next normal of bettors emerging. Three takeaways are arising from efforts to form a holistic view of the new post-Covid19 bettors in Africa. The adoption of digital services took place at a blistering pace, in addition to growing health and hygiene concerns. The ease of lockdown has seen broad shifts to new behavior hide significant variations seeing players’ actions fluctuate. Until it reaches the next normal, how long bettors stick to iGaming betting depends on a range of factors, including satisfaction with the new experience and technology infrastructure, such as access to the internet.

Gaming companies must rethink how and where they connect with bettors in the next normal to keep them glued to iGaming betting either through marketing strategy, enticing promotions great online customers experience; it all depends on their marketing strategy.

Consequently, they should expect to encounter structural challenges and upheaval across multiple dimensions. Overall, bettors are undergoing a significant change in mix and are changing the ways they get their information. The trend towards digitalization accelerates whether the new behaviors of betting online fade out or last into the next normal for Africa’s gaming industry are still in contention for many. As mentioned earlier, depending on several factors such as a good customer satisfaction experience than the usual retail betting there leave behind during lockdown, the answer to these questions will significantly affect whether bettors’ new behavior will stick to iGaming betting.

For instance, there is a report; several bettors went online during the lockdown. Still, fewer found the experience satisfying due to slow internet connection complaints during the lockdown, whereas the numbers of people that went online triple in Africa due to deficit in internet infrastructure available, especially those in rural. The fact that internet regional average broadband penetration 3G connections stood 25% in 2018 projected to reach 62% by 2025 while there were 456 million unique mobile subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa, an increase of 20 million over the previous year and representing a subscriber penetration rate of 44 percent. Around 239 million people, equivalent to 23 percent of the population, also use the mobile internet regularly, according to GSMA.

Despite the growth experienced in the region still, another factor that I pointed out earlier that could hinder the iGaming sector is expensive data, financial exclusion, a significant concern for many that stood at 60 percent of the population are excluded. Though the big question now would the proportion of punters that went online during lockdown stay glued to iGaming betting. Well, time would tell, as said in the above, there are still many unresolved factors that are yet to be solved for Africa to be known as a full-blown iGaming industry.

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