Third Betting & iGaming Summit Held in Joburg
Emperors Palace hotel and casino recently hosted the third annual Betting and iGaming (BIG) Africa Summit. The three-day session focused on gaming on the continent and attracted key players in Africa’s growing industry. It took place between October 26th and 28th, and included 30 speakers, over 20 exhibitors, over 200 corporate peers and more.
Speakers included South Africa’s Shadow Minister of the Department of Trade, Geordin Hill-Lewis, as well as Emmanuel Sisi Quainoo (Ghana Gaming Commissioner), Dr. Maroba Matsapola (former chief executive officer of the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board), and Prof Bongani Khumani of Gidani.
Matsopola presented the opening remarks at the beginning of the annual conference, informing participants about the emerging gambling market in Africa.
The chief director of policy and legislation for South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry, Mac Donalda Netshitenzhe spoke about a future gambling framework in the country.
According to organizers of the BIG Africa Summit, the expo “has now established itself as a must-attend event among the international betting and i-gaming communities.”
The first two events were considered very successful in delivering key topics to industry decision makers, executives and key players in the industry. Organizers say that they “were also successful in bringing a host of important speakers to Johannesburg to give their views on this ever-growing industry.”
Two essential workshops were held this year. The first Masterclass 1 was run by the head of technology and innovation of Skilrock Technologies, Sujit Lahiry and was entitled: “iGaming Challenges and Technology Solutions for Operational Challenges in Africa.”
The second was run by Christina Thakor-Rankin, a consultant for 1710 Gaming Ltd, entitled: “Future Technology and Developments in Gaming – Mobile, AR, Multi-Channel, Payments, Security, etc.”
Exhibitors and sponsors of the summit include Meridian, a leading licensed gambling company in South East Europe, Betradar, a brand of Sportradar which supplies sports and betting-related data and solutions, SB Tech, BetTech, Tufsport, IGT and more.
Other speakers at the conference included:
• Edward Lalumbe – Gauteng Gambling Board
• Charles Wambia – Betting Control & Licensing, Kenya
• Madelein Ozok – Sun International
• Tyrone Dobbin – Sportingbet South Africa
• James Mpiirwe – National Lottery Board, Uganda
• Mark Jakins – Peermont
• Joe Coughlin – London Gaming Company, UK
• Anli Kotze – BetTech Gaming
• Ivan Zaltsman – World Sports Betting
• Andrew Dagnall – Betterlogic, UK
• Yahaya Maikori – Nigeria Gamign Association
Next year’s African Betting & iGaming Summit has already been scheduled for October 2016.
