Our today’s article deals with betting in Africa. Universal enthusiasm for football and bets on this sport can be witnessed almost across the entire continent. This is a real cult. The top countries by the number of bettors include Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Bets are placed every week while betting itself is something of a hobby in these regions.
When we first started doing research for this article, we couldn’t even imagine how popular betting is on the African continent. After we perused a lot of sources and received some first-hand comments, we realized that this article has the potential to become a true must-read.
It provides detailed information on the percentage share of bettors for each geo, the audience you should target, what sport to make a landing page for and why betting will only flourish in these countries.
South Africa
South Africa consists of 9 provinces, each having its own gambling regulations. However, some of the provisions are common to the entire Republic. For instance, these include the ban on online gambling and the full legalization of licensed betting platforms.
By the way, South Africa is the continent’s leader when it comes to the gambling industry. About half of the country’s adult population regularly places sports bets. The most popular sports are football, cricket, rugby, and golf. Half of the bets are placed on football events and there are a number of reasons for that:
- huge enthusiasm for football (almost every football team has a player of African descent);
- there are a lot of people aged 15-25 in South Africa;
- rapid mobile web development;
- aggressive marketing tactics employed by betting platforms;
- loyal gambling legislation.
The average bet amount per active player varies from $12 to $15. At the same time, South Africans tend to place small bets of $1-$2 on high-coefficient matches.
The pace at which the betting industry is developing in South Africa is rather impressive. BBC made a documentary on it called Gamblers Like Me: The Dark Side of Sports Betting.
Do you see that Africa is growing in popularity among affiliates when it comes to betting?
Yes, definitely. Moreover, both affiliates and advertisers are now taking a closer look at Africa. This surge of interest stems from the fact that this market hasn’t been burnt out yet. So, it offers more prospects and is less competitive.
Vyacheslav Chemodanov, Alfaleads co-founder
Nigeria
Although gambling is barred from Nigeria, betting is not. There are more than 60 million active bettors in the country, and over $5.5 million per day are spent on bets across the Republic. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, an average Nigerian forks over about $9 on sports betting daily, which makes about $260 a month (an average monthly salary in the country).
The most popular sports are football, basketball, tennis, rugby, and cricket.
By the way, betting platform Bet2ja.com ranks second in the list of top websites in Nigeria, according to Alexa.
A report by KPMG revealed that the site makes an average monthly turnover of $10 million.
The development of online betting was conditioned by a rise in the number of Internet users and time-saving considerations. Just like in South Africa, players are making low bets on a weekly basis.
Kenya
There are about 30 sports betting agencies in the country with an estimated total annual revenue of $2 billion. In terms of the income level, Kenya ranks third on the African continent.
The typical portrait of a betting player:
- a low-income millennial;
- places bets via a mobile device;
- tends to place bets on football matches (GeoPoll revealed that 83% of bets account for this sport);
- bets are made primarily by men (69%).
If you compare Kenya with other countries across the globe, you will find out that the average player’s income is strikingly low. 54% of the population belong to the lower-income group. At the same time, Kenyans tend to place very low bets on a massive scale.
Most players bet once a week and spend about $50 a month.
Which GEO (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa) can boast the highest amount of one-time deposit?
The advantage of Kenya is that users mostly deposit from their mobile phones via SMS. That’s why deposits can vary from $0.01 to $500. The average bet is $10.
RSA and Nigeria are wealthier countries, so deposits can reach thousands of dollars in the luckiest cases.
Anastasia Loseva, Head of Sales at zeydoo.com
Problem betting
Throughout Africa, iGaming analysts note an upsurge in the number of betting players across the poor. These players spend money on betting in the hope of getting rich, while unscrupulous betting platforms without a license in a particular African region use this to their advantage. Due to the lack of educational resources in the field of betting, it is difficult for a would-be player to understand which platform is not trying to fool them out of their money.
Besides, problem betting can also be attributed to scarce treatment for betting addicts. Education on the damage that gambling creates is limited in many countries, and there is no access to treatment.
The main danger that the poor are facing is getting caught in a vicious betting circle where each subsequent bet is placed to recoup the cost of the previous one.
When it comes to the middle class, people make bets on a more regular basis (once a week, on average) and just for fun’s sake.
Overall, the rise of problem gambling is alarming, while the profitability of betting in Africa is now higher than ever.
What is the average LTV of a player in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria?
Based on our data, the LTV accounts for about $40 (6-8 months) in Kenya and Nigeria. When it comes to South Africa, the LTV is a bit smaller, though the exact figures are still unknown.
Vyacheslav Chemodanov, Alfaleads co-founder
If you want to reach new GEOs and audiences, maybe it is all waiting for you on Telegram? We’ve prepared some material about Telegram audiences. What are the messenger’s users like this year? How old they are, what they do, and what they are interested in!
Betting regulations
The betting market in Africa is younger than that in Europe, and so some legislative frameworks are now either at the implementation or adjustment stage. For example, South Africa has recently revised its 2004 law regulating the industry and introduced the following amendments:
- the ban on dog racing and respective bets;
- limiting the number of licenses issued to betting agencies;
- the centralization of the licensing process.
However, the legislature did not revise the procedure for generalizing betting rules throughout South Africa, and so the law is still applied differently across all the 9 provinces.
The Kenyan government also allows betting companies to operate on its territory if they have been properly licensed. Betting firms are also obliged to provide a $1 million guarantee. Besides, the government has developed a system for monitoring sports betting agencies that tracks financial flows and ensures timely tax payments.
Gambling and betting are poorly regulated in Nigeria and fall within the scope of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. According to a 2005 law, games are divided into two categories: legal and illegal. The legal games include lottery, sports betting, and land-based casino. The Nigerian law does not mention online platforms and there is no restriction for the people to reach gambling sites.
By the way, in early 2020, betting company 1xBet was licensed to receive bets in Nigeria.
What is the average bet in these regions (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa)?
As a one-off bet, players usually deposit from $2 to $7. High rollers, however, can pay about $3-5K.
Nika Kuzmicheva, head of affiliate network CPA BRO
Selling betting tips
Where there is sports betting, there are cappers.
Affiliate wisdom
We decided to take a look at how Nigerian cappers are promoting their services on Instagram, if at all.
Searching by such keywords as “nigeriabet” and “bet9ja” revealed that cappers are actually present in this region.
The search results featured images and videos of the same type that we provide below:
We decided to contact one of the cappers to learn more about the funnel:
After exchanging traditional greetings, the capper asked how we felt about sports betting and whether we had placed bets at all.
We said that we had not and that we were ready to try out something new. Then, we were offered to subscribe to a betting predictions service.
We asked whether we would be able to place bets on any platform or only on the one that he had recommended. The answer was that we could make bets on any platform. Then, the capper offered four subscription plans: weekly, monthly, annual, and VIP. He recommended buying a weekly subscription for $80 and send us the payment information. Payment method: a Western Union transfer to Godwin A (Nigeria).
As simple as that. No sales funnel, no attempts at warming the user up. African marketing.
Conclusions
The betting market in Africa is developing rapidly. Although the amount of a single transaction does not exceed $15, bets are placed on a daily/weekly basis. This has a positive effect on payouts to those who work with affiliate programs. The ever-increasing popularity of betting among the population can be attributed to offline marketing and trade shows such as ICE Africa. People start making bets when they reach 15 years of age, although some countries require that the bettor should be at least 25 years old.
Betting is gradually becoming a national hobby and part of the lifestyle, which fuels competition among both betting platforms and affiliates. So, if you want to start working with this geo, there is no better time than now.
You can find betting offers for those geos in affiliate networks:
