Softswiss panel shows a continent of distinct markets: South Africa requires nine provincial processes, certifications and 21 regulatory reports.
Entering the African iGaming market costs far more than the licence alone. That is the conclusion of the LinkedIn Live “Not a Cheap Bet: The Economics of Launch in the African iGaming Market”, hosted by Softswiss on 9 October. The panel brought together the Mpumalanga Economic Regulator, operator Jabula Bets, consultancy Legends Gaming and Management Solutions, and the technology provider itself, with South Africa as the main case study.
The first point to emerge concerns the nature of the continent. With 54 countries, Africa is not a single market but a collection of separate ones that differ in licensing rules, anti-money laundering requirements and player habits. Payments are the clearest example: mobile money leads in Kenya, South African players use vouchers, electronic funds transfers and cards, while other areas rely on Ussd and agent networks. An operator may run a single platform across several countries, but still needs a separate compliance approach for each, as well as a game catalogue tailored to the local audience.
Mariia Halaida, Head of Business Development in Africa at Softswiss, addressed the issue of content. “Local content is crucial. If you want to operate in Kenya, you would have a different set of game providers than in West Africa or South Africa. So for us as a platform provider, aggregation provider, it’s crucial to offer our clients the content that would fit their needs and their markets. We don’t have just one offer for everyone out there. It’s completely personalised,” she said.
South Africa shows how much work remains once authorisation has been obtained. Operators must apply province by province, and each of the nine provincial authorities follows its own process. Approval can take three, six or 12 months, depending on the province and the complexity of the application. Products must then be certified by a test lab and by the South African Bureau of Standards (Sabs), while platforms are required to produce 21 market-specific regulatory reports. According to what was reported during the panel, some operators licensed over a year ago have still not launched because their software needed additional development.
The licence, the speakers explained, is one of the smaller costs. Most of the budget goes to localisation, certification, setting up a local company and hiring staff, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (Bee) requirements, technology, payments and marketing. A frequent mistake, it was noted, is to size the investment around a platform that can go live rather than one that can handle real player volumes. Marketing also needs steady investment to compete with established local brands, and a slow system, a failed deposit or poor customer service can waste that spend, because the operator pays to bring in a player who then meets a problem.
The closing advice centred on preparation. Operators should define their business strategy first and only then compare markets, relying on a full feasibility study, talks with people on the ground, due diligence on every partner, and early engagement with a local partner and a test lab. On technology, building a platform in-house can become a multi-year, multi-million project, which is why many operators choose to turn to an experienced provider.
The sharpest message came from Vusi Mtsweni, Ceo at Mpumalanga Economic Regulator. “For international operators, don’t come to South Africa simply because the market is growing. Come because you understand the market, the regulatory environment, the consumer and the economics. And because you are prepared to invest for the long term,” he said.
Softswiss, active since 2009, presents itself as a strategic technology partner to operators of online casinos and sportsbooks in regulated markets. The group says it powers more than 1,500 brands and has over 2,200 professionals across multiple international locations.
