SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Africa has been a region that many gaming companies have been keeping a close eye on. For TVBET, this continent is brimming with opportunities for further expansion – even more so as mobile usage continues to grow.
Emily Asava – Sales and Business Development Manager, Africa at TVBET – sat down with SBC News to discuss player trends across African markets and the role that pre-recorded footage and TVBET’s Satellite Solution play in delivering content to regions with weaker internet connectivity.
SBC: Firstly, can you begin by introducing yourself and your role at TVBET?
EA: Hello, my name is Emily Asava. Nice to meet you? I have been working as Sales and Business Development Manager in Africa at TVBET company for three years. Before that, I worked in a land-based casino in Kenya, and this has given me insight and experience in both land-based and online-based operations. I can say I know the industry from B2C to B2B side in all things business development, growth to brand establishment.
Also, I’m an active representative of the “Women in Gaming” movement. I like the tendency of more and more women entering this industry, which for a long time was occupied by men mainly. Women have all the rights, knowledge and energy to build careers in the market, and this is the main idea of #womeningaming movement.
SBC: Over the last few years, TVBET has been making significant moves across Africa. Are there any particular markets within Africa that have been key drivers for growth in 2023?
EA: Yes, Africa is of special interest for us. We see fantastic prospects for development here since African players like betting and lotteries. And what a surprise, we offer betting on lotteries combining two of their favourite activities in one!
If we talk about particular markets, we’re focusing more on Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and now DRC. These regions have been actively developing in recent years , betting is not prohibited here, and the markets are regulated. Mobile internet connection becomes better and better, making these regions attractive for igaming suppliers and operators.
Of course, these are not final points for us. We aim to bring more and more of our games to online and land-based points in Africa, thus giving its players new betting opportunities. With the opening of new markets and regions being regulated in Africa, we will enter this new landscapes ?
SBC: What games have you found to be the most popular in these markets?
EA: African players like lotteries a lot. That’s why the first place in popularity is occupied by KENO if we talk about our live games. And it’s no surprise for us since KENO has been popular worldwide for centuries. The rules of our KENO are classic. Moreover, we provide wide betting options, and all these factors attract the attention of punters from Africa.
Going further across our statistics for 2022, the second and third places are occupied by WheelBet and 7Bet live games. WheelBet is also a classic in the gambling world. This game from TVBET combines the principles of a simple wheel of fortune and American roulette. And 7Bet is a fast live game where the lottery machine selects 7 out of 42 numbered balls.
SBC: Given that mobile gambling tends to be very popular in many markets across Africa, what opportunities are there for operators to integrate your games in both a mobile and retail space? Do you have to tweak the game at all to suit the differing demands of retail and mobile / online bettors?
EA: Yes, you are right. Mobile games are gaining popularity in Africa more and more every year. This is primarily since the mobile internet began to develop dramatically. Hence, it’s convenient to use mobile phones for various activities in everyday life, including betting and gambling.
Our games are perfectly adapted to mobile phones without losing any quality of functionality and interface. Players can make bets with the same convenience as on PC. We are very mobile and understand the importance of developing the industry on smartphones.
And, of course, we offer a solution for land-based casinos, which are still plentiful in Africa. Setting up and training a cashier does not take much time. But most importantly, our games can be broadcast in land-based casinos, not only via the internet. If the operator is located in a region where the internet connection is feeble or unstable, we offer Virtual Games and Satellite Solution for such cases.
The setup and integration process for mobile apps and land-based casinos is different. But our experts will ensure that our games run smoothly on any platform!
SBC: Tell us about TVBET’s decision to supply prerecorded games and streams via satellites. Why have you chosen to offer this to your partners across Africa?
EA: As I’ve already noticed, these services were developed specially for regions with feeble internet connection. With Satellite Solution, our games are broadcast through the satellite, which means that no internet connection is needed.
To talk about Virtual Games, we offer a comprehensive library with hundreds of thousands of pre-recorded live games that we have been running since 2017 24/7. At the same time, the fairness of the outcomes is preserved since the Virtual Games engine chooses a random video from the library every three minutes.
And we offer these services in Africa, not by chance. Unfortunately, there are still regions where the internet is too poor to broadcast our live-streaming games. That’s why we came here with the solutions mentioned above.
SBC: How do you guarantee the integrity of your pre-recorded games?
EA: Well, everything is made automatically and set up in such a way that the videos are chosen randomly, guaranteeing a fair result for the players. And given that the library of pre-recorded games comprises hundreds of thousands of ethers, the Virtual Games engine successfully manages to carry out its tasks.
SBC: What can you tell us about TVBET’s plans for the African region in 2023? Are there any markets which have caught your attention for expansion?
EA: We’re going to expand at the existing ones and maybe enter some new market hopefully. Any new regulated market is a green flag for us ? So we’re expecting new regions to open their doors to gambling and betting. Anyway, we’ll share everything in our news. Stay tuned!
