One of the most exciting topics surrounding iGaming are emerging markets and the opportunities that lie within them.  At present, we’re hearing a lot about the African and Latin American markets, two regions of the world that have been on the radar for several years but have not been ripe for entering until just recently.  Both markets have actually earned the right to dedicated iGaming conferences in 2016 such as the Africa Briefing, Sports Betting East and West Africa, the Brazilian Gaming Congress and Juegos Miami.

BtoBet is a sportsbook and gaming platform provider using artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver the best results possible to their customers. Alessandro Fried, BtoBet’s CEO, recently spoke at the Sports Betting East Africa event on multichannel retail solutions and announced his company’s entry into the regulated Columbian market in April.  I spoke with Fried about the massive opportunities available and the potential for gaming companies in Africa and also touched on his experience in Latin America so far.

Becky Liggero: Thank you for joining me today, Alessandro.  What are some of the signs highlighting the potential of mobile and internet gambling in Africa?  

Alessandro Fried: In growing markets such as the African demographic, the government has steadily invested in undersea fiber-optic cables and infrastructures, and data related to the mobile and smartphones users – particularly in Nigeria, Egypt and East Africa – Kenya and Tanzania – are overwhelmingly positive.  Kenya is home to about 36 million mobile users and Tanzania counts about 33 million mobile users. Mobile penetration in Africa is 79%, + 28% compared with the 51% world’s trend.