Sport betting in Nigeria is as big as it gets and analysts now believe an average betting company could be set to make as much as a billion per annum. The industry is also expanding fast and retail with the owners relying on large display ads and giving their customers more betting options beyond football. Goal.com interviewed a General Manager of one of Nigeria’s biggest betting company SureBet247 Ajala Adeyinka Samson, to understand just how well the business is doing. ,
On why the business is expanding so fast he explained;
I think that first and foremost, this country has been receptive of the benefits that technology can afford us. Like we all know, betting has been in existence in advanced countries for many years and we also are trying to emulate what’s happening in the other parts of the world. It is no longer a joke that you can barely survive, especially in countries like Kenya for instance, there’s practically nothing you can do without your phone, everything is becoming “e-“, there’s nothing you can’t do on your phone now – you’re sending money, you’re pushing emails, all sorts of things. You can even have meetings with people in different parts of the world. It is the same technology, it is the same idea that has been brought to betting to make it easier. In terms of collaboration with other industries like banking for instance, from the push of a button you can get money paid; winnings paid to any agent across the country. And so generally, it is simply because we are always open to the developments in the world, we’re trying to catch up with what is happening elsewhere.
Mr Ajala was also asked just how big the industry was and what the potential is if any. Though he as expected, did not brandish any numbers, he very well described just what the potential is out there for this industry
Well, I will like to call it an emerging market but even as an emerging market I think that this industry is so big and can only get better. So far there’s been a bit of concentration on the cities, the metropolis. But you will realize that there are other places, places I will like to refer to as interior. We still have places where there are a lot of people, places where five, seven, ten people will gather money and give to a person to go to the nearest town and place bets for them, it happens a lot. So that is why I will call it an emerging market, the potential is huge. What we contribute to the economy is massive. For instance, as far as retail betting is concerned, you have to get a shop, carpenters work in your shop, the painters also, people that sell paper rolls, different workmen are needed, landlords are making money, agents, etc. So if you look at what this is bringing generally, you will realize a lot of the youths who either might have been committing crime have been taken out of the streets. Now with 100 naira you have hope that something better can happen. I have seen a lot people who come here to collect cheques – seven million, nine million naira and much more than that with bets of 200 naira. So this is giving people hope. And especially for the fact that when they win, they get the money, it stimulates them.
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