The wide and wonderful world of wagering and gambling is one that has taken several significant twists and turns to get to where it is today. Gambling is one of the oldest practices in the world, and dates back beyond the records of history. Africa however, has not always been put in the centre of gambling discourse, however, this is changing.
Gambling ‘s always been there. Early records of the practice focussed on it all. As soon as events with uncertain outcomes arose (from a coin toss to a dice roll), eager thrill seekers began placing wagers on all and any outcomes that could arise. Whether it was heads or tails, or for the die to roll a 7, these objects have been found by archeologists throughout history.
As time went on, the faces of gambling changed, but much of the rhetoric focussed on Europe. A lot of discourse cites animal fights and gladiators as some of the early forms of the practice, but much of the history related to betting did not cover much of what was happening on the African continent.
In Africa, much like in other parts of the world, gambling was alive and well, with local wagering games and methods emerging from the very beginning. As with much of world development however, Africa was left behind and was forced to play catch up as these other gambling markets began to develop and mature.
Advancements in technology, and gambling knowhow saw the practice shift from the events themselves to off site locations, and with this we saw the emergence of brick and mortar betting shops. Similar to retail outlets in nature, these stores focussed on selling odds ahead of food, clothes, or other goods. The more range of odds, the better. The better the odds were priced, the more popular the betting shop was, and so on.
The age of the betting shop was long and plentiful, however, as technology began to develop more and more, the rise of online betting began, and with it, the emergence of online betting portals. Many of these online bookmakers had their roots in the brick and mortar game, however plenty of online portals felt as if they popped up out of the blue.
Ofcourse, the focus of their endeavours was European, once again, leaving the African betting scene somewhat barren in terms of operator penetration, but the reasons were somewhat understandable. Nations in Africa were not as technologically advanced as their European counterparts, making these nodes of less interest to operators.
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This however is no longer the case, and has not been the case for some time. The African continent is rich with opportunity when it comes to gambling, and operators have realised this, with many of them advancing their branches into African countries. Chief amongst these have been South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, with other nations such as Tanzania and Zimbabwe gaining some steam too.
Reasons for these markets coming up to speed with the rest of the world are plenty. First of all, the African continent is the youngest by a country mile. The average of people living in Africa is just 19.7.
But why is this a significant factor? Well, for two reasons. Firstly, and why this directly impacts online betting, is because younger people are more inclined to embrace technology, and since betting over the internet is done with a laptop, smartphone or tablet, the willingness to embrace technology becomes important.
Why youth is also an interesting and important factor is due to the fact that younger people are more inclined to engage in risk taking behaviour. The very nature of gambling is to take risks on something. So much so that you are placing money on an event to occur, and if it doesn’t occur, you lose that money.
Other factors include mobile phone penetration, and growing vested interest in international sporting leagues, as we see more and more African sporting stars emerge and show up on television screens. What’s clear to see however, is that Africa is a continent that holds much excitement when it comes to betting, and will continue to grow at exponential rates.
