GAMING FOR AFRICA Betking Strengthens African Betting
African focused gambling operator and digital entertainment company BetKing, part of the KingMakers Group, has joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA). The company was established in 2018 and offers online and retail betting, with licences in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Ghana. BetKing will now feed into IBIA’s global betting integrity monitoring and alert platform and joins many of the leading regulated sports betting operators in the world, with the association’s members accounting for over $137bn (€115bn) in global betting turnover per annum and nearly 50% of all regulated commercial operator online betting activity. Karim Fatih, Head of Trading Operations at
Betking said: “We are delighted to have joined the fight against corruption in sport and look forward to working with IBIA and our colleagues across the industry in tackling match-fixing and
all associated fraudulent activity.” The International Betting Integrity Association is
the leading global voice on integrity for the licensed betting industry. It is run by operators for operators, protecting its members from corruption through collective action. Its monitoring and alert platform is a highly effective anti-corruption tool that detects and reports suspicious activity on its members’ betting markets. The association has
National Gambling Board calls the Youth to Action: Gamble Responsibly
As South Africa celebrates its National Youth Day this week, the National Gambling Board (NGB) has called on the Youth of South Africa to use their rights wisely when it comes to legal and responsible gambling. Gambling is viewed as an entertainment
activity, and as such the National Gambling Act (NGA), 2004 (Act 7 of 2004) puts regulations in place to keep a leisure activity from escalating into the realm of social harm. While the National Youth Commission Act (1996) defines youth as anyone aged between 14 and 35 years of age, the NGA prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from engaging in gambling activities. “The potential negative socio-economic
impact of irresponsible or illegal gambling cannot be underestimated, especially amongst our young people,” says NGB Accounting Authority, Ms. Caroline Kongwa. “They are not exempted from falling into the trap of compulsive or addictive gambling behaviour. Raising awareness of responsible gambling is a crucial service offered by the NGB and our partners in the industry.” A 2017 household survey conducted by the
NGB into the socio-economic impact of gambling showed a strong correlation between unemployment, poverty and problem gambling behaviour. Slightly over 42% of unemployed participants surveyed fell within this category, with 67% being less affluent. Pertinently, close to 48% were in the age bracket considered as youth (18 – 35 years). Almost 60% of respondents participated in illegal forms of gambling, placing them
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outside of the regulatory environment which requires gambling operators to make information and support services available to gamblers. It is anticipated that the Covid-19 pandemic, which strongly affected the fortunes of many around the world in the years following this study, would have further exacerbated the situation. Additionally, the pandemic greatly
accelerated the adoption of digital technology, as people were confined to their homes and had no access to more traditional leisure activities. This shift towards technology also applies in the case of gambling where technology has been seen as a catalyst for the evolving profile of the punter. Gambling has always been an early adopter of technological changes. Digital advances have also resulted in competition for punters between brick and mortar gambling operators and virtualised equivalents. Ms. Kongwa emphasises that the youth
might not be aware that online gambling in South Africa (with the exception of betting) is illegal. “Our youth are digital natives, conversant and accepting of all virtual offerings. The convenience and immediacy of online gambling, in the comfort of your home, has the potential to inure you against the compulsive nature of gambling.” Punters stand a bigger chance of becoming addicted when the gambling machine is at their fingertips 24 hours, 7 days a week.
longstanding information sharing partnerships with leading sports and gambling regulators to utilise its data and prosecute corruption. It represents the sector at high-level policy discussion forums such as the IOC, UN, Council of Europe and European Commission. The association publishes quarterly reports
covering the integrity alerts reported through its monitoring and alert platform.
Boylesports & Tsogo Sun’s Own Sportsbetting Operation Set for South African Launch
European sportsbetting operator Boylesports appears set for a South African launch via a Western Cape Gambling Board licence later this year. While no official announcement has been
made, industry scuttlebutt puts the launch at immInent stage with a large-scale operational hiring process ongoing behind the scenes. Gaming for Africa will bring more on this as
information becomes available, along with unrelated rumours that Tsogo Sun via its Tsogo Sun Alternative Gaming arm is also furiously building its own sporstbetting site, tentatively believed to be called PlayTsogo as a separate sportsbetting and wholly-owned operation aside from its major stake in
Sportsbet.co.za - also set for a launch later this year.
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