Online Betting Firms Gamble on Soccer-mad Nigeria > 자유게시판

By Alexis Akwagyiram and Didi Akinyelure

LAGOS, June 25 (Reuters) - Online sports betting is booming in soccer-mad Nigeria largely thanks to payment systems developed by homegrown innovation companies that are beginning to make online companies more viable.

For years, mobile payments failed to take off in Nigeria as they have in nations such as Kenya, where Safaricom's M-Pesa cash transfers have cultivated a culture of cashless payments.

Fear of electronic fraud and slow web speeds have actually held Nigerian online consumers back however sports betting firms states the new, quick digital payment systems underpinning their sites are altering mindsets towards online transactions.

"We have actually seen significant development in the variety of payment options that are available. All that is certainly changing the gaming space," stated Seun Anibaba, CEO of Lagos State Lotteries Board, gaming regulator in Nigeria's business capital.

"The operators will go with whoever is faster, whoever can connect to their platform with less concerns and problems," he said, adding that taxes from sports betting in Lagos State increased 30 percent to 40 percent in 2017 from 2016.

That development has actually been matched by an increase in web payments, according to information from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), which is owned by the central bank and certified banks.

In 2016, there were 14 million web payments worth a total 132 billion naira ($420 million). Transactions leapt to 29 million worth 185 billion in 2017 and in the first quarter of 2018 there were nearly 10 million worth 61 billion.

With a young population of almost 190 million, increasing cellphone use and falling information expenses, Nigeria has actually long been seen as a great chance for online businesses - once consumers feel comfy with electronic payments.

Online gambling firms say that is happening, though reaching the 10s of countless Nigerians without access to banking services stays a challenge for pure online sellers.

British online sports betting firm Betway opened its first African service in Kenya in 2015, followed by Uganda, Ghana and South Africa. It launched in Nigeria in January.

"There is a progressive shift to online now, that is where the industry is going," Betway's Nigeria manager Lere Awokoya stated.

"The development in the variety of fintechs, and the government as an enabler, has helped business to thrive. These technological shifts encouraged Betway to begin operating in Nigeria," he said.

FINTECH COMPETITION

sports betting firms capitalizing the soccer craze worked up by Nigeria's participation worldwide Cup state they are finding the payment systems developed by regional start-ups such as Paystack are proving popular online.

Paystack and another local startup Flutterwave, both founded in 2016, are providing competitors for Nigeria's Interswitch which was established in 2002 and was the primary platform used by services running in Nigeria.

"We added Paystack as one of our payment alternatives without any fanfare, without revealing to our consumers, and within a month it soared to the number one most secondhand payment alternative on the site," stated Akin Alabi, founder of NairabBET.

He stated NairaBET, the country's second most significant wagering firm, now had 2 million regular customers on its website, up from 500,000 in 2013, and Paystack remained the most popular payment alternative because it was included late 2017.

Paystack was set up by 2 Nigerian computer technology graduates, Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, who received early phase financing in Silicon Valley's Y-Combinator programme.

In December 2016, it raised $1.3 million from financiers consisting of China's Tencent and Comcast Ventures in the United States.

Paystack, based in the frenetic Ikeja district of Lagos, stated the variety of regular monthly transactions it processed increased from about 8,000 in early 2016 to more than 900,000 as of June 2018.

"In early 2016 we were processing about $3,000 a month. Today we process well over $11 million every single month," stated Emmanuel Quartey, Paystack's head of development.

He stated an ecosystem of designers had emerged around Paystack, producing software to incorporate the platform into websites. "We have seen a growth because community and they have brought us along," stated Quartey.

Paystack said it enables payments for a variety of wagering companies however also a wide variety of services, from utility services to carry business to insurance provider Axa Mansard.

Flutterwave, co-founded by Nigerian entrepreneur Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, is likewise backed by the Y-Combinator programme along with investor Greycroft Partners and Green Visor Capital and the Omidyar Network. It raised $10 million in 2015.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

Shifts in Nigeria's payment culture have actually corresponded with the arrival of foreign investors hoping to take advantage of sports betting wagering.

Industry specialists say the sector produces about $1 billion a year and is most likely to grow faster than in South Africa and Kenya where business is more established.

Russia's 1XBet and Slovakia's DOXXbet have actually both set up in Nigeria in the last two years while Italy's Goldbet was ahead of the pattern, taking a 50 percent stake in market leader Bet9ja when the Nigerian company introduced in 2015.

NairaBET's Alabi stated its sales were divided in between stores and online but the ease of electronic payments, expense of running stores and ability for customers to avoid the stigma of sports betting in public indicated online deals would grow.

But regardless of advances in digital payments, Kunle Soname - chairman and co-founder of Bet9ja - said it was essential to have a shop network, not least because lots of consumers still remain reluctant to invest online.

He said the company, with about 60 percent of Nigeria's sports betting wagering market, had a comprehensive network. Nigerian wagering shops often act as social centers where can enjoy soccer complimentary of charge while positioning bets.

At a BetKing hall deep inside the busy Oshodi market in Lagos, dozens of soccer fans collected to watch Nigeria's last heat up game before the World Cup.

Richard Onuka, a factory worker who earns 25,000 naira a month, was focused on a television screen inside. He stated he started gambling 3 months ago and bets as much as 1,000 naira a day.

"Since I have been playing I have actually not won anything but I believe that one day I will win," said Onuka. ($1 = 314.5000 naira) (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram and Didi Akinyelure in Lagos; editing by David Clarke)

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