Buckle Up

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“As Africa’s gambling industry continues to grow, player protection must grow with it,” he said. “Africa Safer Gambling Week brings regulators and industry together around a shared commitment to safer gambling and stronger consumer protection.

“We fully support consumers having the tools and information they need to gamble responsibly, this week, like every week, is about ensuring our customers’ safety.”

The AiA has urged stakeholders of Africa’s gambling sector to collaborate, something the association said will prove increasingly important as the continent’s industry continues to develop.

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The 888Africa acquisition announcement raises questions about why GiG have opted to return to the B2C sphere. Richards warns against over-analysing the deal as a wholesale return to B2C, insisting that GiG remains a B2B platform and tech business at its core.

Asked why GiG had returned to B2C, Richards explains the decision was threefold.

“First, our own priorities have shifted,” he says. “We have been explicit that we are moving away from a growth-at-all-costs mindset, towards a more disciplined focus on profitability and cash generation, and 888Africa is immediately accretive on both counts.

About Buckle Up

Local operators, meanwhile, have tried to close the gap by strengthening their technology, including working with world-class suppliers.

This can be difficult, however, as Atucha explains some larger platforms entering LatAm will only work with tier 1 operators, rather than helping smaller companies develop. “It’s challenging because first, whatever you would consider a tier 3 or a tier 2 or even a startup in an emerging market like Latin America can eventually become a tier 1 operator,” Atucha suggests.

“We’ve got lots of cases, EstrelaBet being one of them. They started from nothing and they grew a lot. And probably platform suppliers will have ignored them and regret that later on. You’ve got lots of cases like that.”