Eventus International Thanks West Africa for Its Support of SBWA2018

Last week, the 4th Annual Sports Betting West Africa Summit was held at the Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos, Nigeria. The event was attended by hundreds of West African operators, regulators, service providers, marketers, payment solution providers and gaming sector experts.

If you weren’t able to join Eventus International and the audience for the summit, thenvyou missed an amazing show! To share some of the highlights from the 3 days, we have prepared a brief summary of the conference proceedings for those not in attendance. 

The first day was held in partnership with Eventus International’s supporting partners, the Association of Nigerian Bookmakers. The heavy traffic in Lagos did create a slight setback, but after 30 minutes the conference hall began to fill up. The welcoming address was delivered by the President of the Association Nigerian Bookmakers, Mr Akin Alabi. He thanked Eventus International for once again working with the Association to make an event as prestigious as possible and welcomed all in attendance with warm words.

Shortly after, the Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission gave his keynote address on Outlining NLRC’ S Future Plans and Priorities for the Sports Betting Industry in Nigeria. The operators and fellow regulators were impressed with Mr. Gbajabiamila’s future plans for the Nigerian sports betting sector.

Throughout day one, other key industry plenary discussions were held, such as; Sports Betting Business in Nigeria:  Industry Opportunities, Challenges and Threats; Positioning the Sports Betting Industry for growth through Legislation and Policy; and Tax Issues in the Sports Betting industry in Nigeria.

Day Two covered a number of business development topics, including subject areas such as: Economic predictions for West Africa 2019 – 2020; Strategies for your success in the West African market; The Legal framework for the Sports Betting industry in Nigeria; Creating synergy between online and retail operations; Taking your sportsbook to the next level; and The need for operators to invest in innovative gaming solutions. 

The speakers on the day represented industry leading organizations such as PwC Nigeria, BetKing Nigeria, Ebony Bet, Bluesea Consulting, Vermantia, Golden Race, Perform Group, Betgenius, Global Bet, Lagos State Lotteries Board, Enugu State Gaming Commission, Anambra State Gaming Board and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, to name a few.

The third and final day covered topics that related to state and federal regulation in Nigeria, regulatory harmonization across West African countries, Cyber Security, and Marketing. One of the standout sessions was the West African Business Start-up Competition, where contestants had the chance to win a free exhibition stand at the Sports Betting West Africa Summit 2019. A local fantasy prediction service called RefPredictor was named the winner of the competition as their idea provided investors with a new product that can’t be considered as Sports Betting, therefore, morally and religiously more attainable than sports betting. Also, their product was already well established, with very effective marketing partners already in place.

Overall conference feedback was extremely positive, certainly living up to Eventus International’s ethos: “We connect leaders with leaders, and turn opportunity into possibility” – Yudi Soetjiptadi, Managing Director, Eventus International. 

For all presentation slides, please click the link below: www.sportsbettingevents.com/sbwa2018-presentations