Blockchain technology is constantly revolutionising the transaction space of the world, helping individuals and organisations drive more business growth. In particular, cryptocurrencies are changing the face of the gambling industry, ranging from top-notch transaction security to transaction anonymity. Perhaps what has kept everyone stunned is the fast rate at which all transactions are processed as opposed to the previous norm.
Cryptocurrency casinos and bookies are everywhere in Europe, North America and Oceania and more operators are adding crypto coins to their offerings. While there are crypto-only operators, we have witnessed several top fiat operators also signing up to the technology.
However, this blockchain technology wave has not been the same with operators in Africa. Hence, our focus here is on how crypto gambling can herald a new dawn for African operators.
Cryptocurrency Ownership and Use in Africa
According to cryptocurrency payments company TripleA, Africa had 32 million crypto owners in 2021, making it the third leading continent. Regarding country rankings, it further revealed that Nigeria made the 4th position, with over 13 million crypto owners - representing 6.31% of the population.
Even though the likes of India, USA and Russia have more crypto owners, Nigeria leads peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. This was revealed by the World Economic Forum blog, as Africa recorded 1,200 crypto value growth from July 2020 to july 2021.
The Tokenist did a report on how Nigeria is massively leading in global bitcoin peer-to-peer adoption regardless of the inflation rate. A look at these figures shows Africa is pulling considerable weight in the global cryptocurrency space.
The highest GDP per capita 2021 in Africa gives an insight into how variables such as inflation, deflation, devaluation etc. affect economies. So, it becomes clearly understandable why cryptos are held as a store of value or means of transactions.
Government’s Position on Cryptocurrencies
Chainalysis’ Top 20 Global Crypto Adoption Index 2021 showed that Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania are championing overall crypto adoption in Africa. In terms of gambling too, these four countries are leading the industry, accounting for the vast majority of annual GGR. The highest number of gambling agents are also found in these countries, equating to more gambling adoption.
However, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria all have a hostile position against cryptocurrencies, and have even banned them. In these countries, banks and financial institutions are not allowed to accept cryptocurrencies or facilitate crypto transactions of any form. The respective Central Banks of Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania have hidden behind the decentralised and volatile nature of cryptos to uphold their ban.
At this point, only South Africa has kept a rather open-minded approach to cryptocurrencies.
Due to two colossal crypto scams that happened in 2020 and 2021, the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has plans to regulate cryptocurrencies. The regulatory framework will come into operations early 2022, making South Africa one of the big crypto regulators in Africa.
Crypto Gambling in Africa
With receptive arms, Europe, Oceania, North America and South America all have reputable crypto gambling operators providing value to players. They power some robust offerings that help players enjoy every bit of online gambling in their respective jurisdictions.
Sadly, the same is not available in the far majority of African gambling markets. Specifically, crypto gambling is not supported in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. There are just very few operators accepting cryptocurrencies in South Africa. And they constitute a meagre percentage of the larger market in the country.
Changing the Current Norm
Making crypto gambling a reality in Africa is largely tied to the governments of different nations, especially top jurisdictions. Imagine what players would gain if it was possible to gamble anonymously, receive lightning-fast payouts, and have an upper control of their funds.
Foriegn or offshore operators that can be accessed in Africa have little issues implementing cryptos, especially those in Europe. What’s required of them is mostly strategic marketing that will subtly make a bold statement of the value they offer.
Subtle banners on their homepage can resonate with players and convince them to try out crypto payment methods. We advise keeping the marketing subtle because these sites can be blocked if regulatory bodies find out such crypto offerings. For indigenous operators, the work of leveraging cryptos has a lot to do with partnering with payment companies, fintechs and banks to lobby governments. There should be a holistic campaign and partnership to spotlight the many advantages that come with crypto gambling and approval thereof. Such partnership could proffer recommendations as to mode and pattern of government’s regulation of cryptos in their respective jurisdictions.