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The $2 Billion Bet: Meet the Leaders Transforming Nigeria’s Betting Industry Despite Islamic Pushback
Meet CEOs/MDs of companies behind Nigeria’s $2 billion Sports wagering industry.
Gaming has developed considerably in Nigeria from standard types like pool staking and Baba Ijebu to a flourishing sports betting wagering industry. Historically tied to European football leagues, swimming pool staking was a typical sight at motor parks and kiosks, where lovers would wager as little as N50-N200 on matches.
Gradually, sports betting with increased web access came virtual wagering, which parallels international patterns. The sports betting market is valued at $89.91 billion in 2023 and is forecasted to almost double to $182.02 billion by 2030.
In spite of financial challenges such as inflation, Nigeria’s sports betting sector has flourished, sports betting drawing in millions, specifically among the younger market facing high joblessness rates.
Reports indicate that around 60 million Nigerians aged 18-40 actively take part in sports betting, driving a market that generates an estimated annual profits of N730 billion. The federal government has not gone unnoticed by this growth, which is considering regulative measures like excise tasks and VAT increases to handle the sector.
The National Lottery Act of 2005 established regulative bodies like the National Lottery Regulatory Commission to ensure fair operations in spite of challenges in enforcement. Concerns such as inadequate age verification and advertising rule breaches reveal industry regulatory spaces.
Despite these obstacles, sports betting wagering companies continue to thrive through effective business designs and aggressive marketing methods, leveraging the developer influencer industry.
These efforts have actually contributed to Nigeria’s robust $2 billion sports betting sector, sports betting with CEOs playing vital roles in expanding audience reach and driving industry development. Here are the CEOs of leading sports betting wagering companies who have actually significantly added to Nigeria’s $2 billion gambling empire through their comprehensive audience reach.
Sheriff Olaniyan – CEO Surebet247
Constable Olaniyan is the CEO of Surebet247, a sports betting book company he co-founded with Badmos Olasupo in 2011. His varied career spans various roles in the video gaming and entertainment industry, including operating at among the United Kingdom’s largest gaming centres, The Palace Bingo Club, where he acted as the Lead Engineer in a Bingo and Bowling Club.
Olaniyan holds a BSc in Geography from the University of Ilorin and a Master’s in Geographical Information Systems from the University of Glamorgan, Wales. Surebet247, founded in August 2011, has become a leading e-commerce business in the sports betting and gaming sector, operating through online, mobile, and retail channels. The business was integrated in Nigeria on November 7, 2006, and has actually because expanded its existence, achieving over 5,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.
Sam Sadi – CEO Livescorebet
Sam Sadi has over 25 years of experience in sports betting brand names and sports betting media. In 2019, he became the CEO of LiveScore Group, a totally incorporated community that combines pertinent sports betting content, sports betting engaging features, and a world-class sportsbook.
Considering that taking the helm just before the pandemic, Sam has driven considerable growth for LiveScore Group. The business’s staff member headcount has increased by 29%, and annual revenue has surged from around ₤ 10 million to over ₤ 80 million.
Sam’s management and sports betting tactical vision have actually moved LiveScore Group’s success and sports betting helped shape the industry’s instructions. LiveScoreBet has attained major user engagement, with over 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.
Anthony Werkman – CEO of Betway Group
Anthony Werkman was appointed CEO of Betway in November 2017, having actually formerly served as the business’s Marketing and Operations Director since 2015. He signed up with Betway in 2013 and sports betting has been in the online gaming market because 2000, holding different effective roles, consisting of General Manager of an information analytics team and Director of a digital marketing firm.
Under Werkman’s leadership, Betway has actually continued to grow its market presence and improve its offerings. The business’s app has garnered substantial user engagement, with over 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.
Damilare Alabi, Co-Founder, Managing Director NairaBET
Damilare Alabi has actually identified herself as a senior executive with a performance history of changing start-ups into institutionalized organizations. Her proficiency covers the gaming, real estate, and credit lending industries, where he has developed himself as a tactical and functional leader.
Damilare has actually been instrumental in NairaBET’s success for over 14 years. Because June 2019, she has worked as Managing Director and has overseen the business’s growth and operations in Lagos, Nigeria.
Before this, she was the Chief Operating Officer from 2010 to June 2019, critical in the company’s functional methods and market expansion.
She founded DearDammy Women’s Initiative (DDWIN), a non-profit organization empowering women-owned businesses. DDWIN provides frHer academic background consists of a Bachelor’s degree in Geology/Earth Science from the University of Ibadan, finished in 2005.
Akin Alabi, sports betting the founder of NairaBET.com, Nigeria’s pioneering sports betting bookmaking company, developed the business in 2009. While NairaBET was not the first sports betting platform in Nigeria, it was the first to release a fully functional site, setting a benchmark in the market.
Femi Babalola- General Manager of 1Xbet Nigeria Limited
Femi Babalola is the Managing Director of 1XBET Nigeria Limited, a franchise of the global sports betting wagering company based in Cyprus. 1XBET, founded in 2007 by the late Sergey Karshkov, has established itself as one of the biggest bookies in Europe and the world. The company runs in more than 50 nations, including Nigeria, sports betting where it is totally licensed.
Under Babalola’s leadership, 1XBET Nigeria has actually broadened its footprint in the competitive Nigerian sports betting wagering market, sports betting using a vast array of sports betting alternatives and an user-friendly platform. The 1XBET app has over 500,000 downloads on the Play Store.
Gossy Ukanwoke – CEO of Betking Nigeria
Gossy Ukanwoke is the CEO of BetKing, Managing Director of KingMakers, and Chairman of Vend Capital. In addition to leading these endeavors, Ukanwoke has collaborated with African socio-economic organizations and federal governments to develop developmental policies focused on empowering youths. In 2015, sports betting Ernst & & Young honoured him as the Winner of the Accelerating Category– World Entrepreneur of the Year.
BetKing, sports betting founded and released in Nigeria on February 22, 2018, by Byron Petzer and Adekunle Adeniji, operates under the brand name of Lake Ventures Ltd. This sports betting and home entertainment business has quickly grown its presence in Nigeria, with outlets in significant cities and sports betting over 500,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.
In 2020, BetKing entered into a collaboration with the Lagos Employment Trust Fund, creating over 100,000 tasks, the number of which is increasing every year. In the very same year, MultiChoice broadcaster bought a 20% stake in BetKing, sports betting which was increased to 49% in 2021.
Denise Coates – CEO Bet 365
Denise Coates is a British billionaire businesswoman, the founder, bulk investor, and sports betting joint Chief Executive of Bet365, an online gaming company she established in 2000. Bet365.com was released in 2001 as an online wagering site and has given that grown into one of the world’s largest online gambling business.
By 2016, sports betting Bet365 generated $2 billion in earnings and assisted in $45 billion in annual bets. The business likewise holds a bulk stake in Stoke City Football Club. Bet365 has actually amassed substantial user engagement, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store.
Ayo Ojuroye – CEO/Cofounder Bet9ja
Ayo Ojuroye is the CEO and co-founder of Bet9ja, a leading sports betting company in Nigeria, sports betting developed alongside businessman Kunle Soname, who also owns Portuguese club CD Feirense and Nigerian club Remo Stars.
Ojuroye is also the Chairman of Mango Asset Management, an independent Nigerian asset management company that generates investment returns and offers special financial investment insights and options to both individual and sports betting institutional clients.
Founded in 2012 under KC Gaming Networks, Bet9ja has quickly grown in popularity, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store. Under Ojuroye’s leadership, sports betting Bet9ja has actually ended up being a substantial gamer in the Nigerian sports betting market.
Fikayo Ogunfuye – Country Director 22bet
Fikayo Ogunfuye is a skilled specialist in the sports betting industry. He has actually been working as the Country Director for 22BET in Nigeria since June 2021. In this function, sports betting he has contributed to the company’s growth through partnerships, company method, and new business development.
Fikayo’s experience includes roles such as Chief Operations Officer (West Africa) at 22BET, where he handled product advancement and consumer experience, and sports betting Country Manager at 22BET, focusing on marketing technique and budget management. Before 22BET, sports betting he led marketing efforts at LuckyBet.NG and held different digital marketing functions at Laclic Services and Betty Bingo.
His profession started at Jumia Group, where he worked in SEO, CRM, sports betting and sports betting content management. Fikayo likewise served as a Human Resource Officer at SIFAX Group.
He holds a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) in Management and Accounting from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and a Master of Science (MS) in Business Administration, Management, and Operations from ESTG University in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
22Bet is an online sports betting platform that uses sports betting, casino video games, and live dealer games. It was introduced in 2017 and is owned and operated by Marikit Holdings Ltd, a business signed up in Cyprus and a subsidiary of Orakum N.V.. They are likewise the owners of Betwinner and a chain of casinos worldwide.
Sudeep Ramnani– CEO Sportybet Group
Sudeep Ramnani is the Founder and CEO of SportyBet, sports betting a business he established in 2013.
SportyBet is a worldwide sports betting and real-money video gaming operator known for delivering an omni-channel home entertainment experience in regulated emerging markets. Under Ramnani’s leadership, sports betting SportyBet has actually ended up being a substantial gamer in the industry, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store.
In addition to his function at SportyBet, Sudeep is an active financier in fintech and sports betting mobile payments and a strong supporter for the growing African web community. His financial investments show his dedication to fostering innovation and advancement within the region.
On April 30, 2024, Sudeep Ramnani invested in Chowdeck, participating in a seed round valued at $2.5 million.
The firm is set to interfere with the sports wagering market.
Sunbet Sporting International Limited has said it is concentrated on changing how countless Africans engage with sports betting. In a market worth over $1.5 billion annual, with double-digit development forecast in the coming years, according to reports from the African Sports Betting Association and sports betting PwC, the firm intends to take advantage of innovative innovation and a commitment to accountable gaming to change the sector.
Backed by the monetary power of four prominent African billionaires, sports betting Sunbet, which will release in the first quarter of 2025, intends to be the continent’s largest and most ingenious sports betting platform.
At a press instruction, the business’s representative, Akin Babatunde, said that the rise in Internet penetration, mobile use, and sports betting the continent’s deep passion for sports betting, specifically football, sports betting has set the stage for Sunbet’s ambitious entry. He included that the company’s robust sponsorship and professional group will enable it to scale and control the marketplace quickly.
Islamic police raid wagering stores in northern Nigeria
Islamic cops in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano have started closing down sports betting wagering stores, which they say are running illegally.
“As you understand, wagering is forbidden in Islam,” Mujahid Aminudeen, deputy chief of the Sharia police force, referred to as the Hisbah, sports betting informed the BBC.
Problems from community leaders and moms and dads triggered the crackdown, fretted about the growing number of gambling addicts, he said.
On the first day of raids, 30 shops were closed in one residential area alone, and their owners were sent home with a warning, the Sharia officer said.
However Mr Aminudeen alerted that now that the general public understood that the Hisbah was clamping down on sports betting, those flouting the guidelines would be jailed.
Kano city is the capital of Kano state, which has a bulk Muslim population and runs the Islamic legal system – Sharia – alongside nonreligious law.
Bookies and bars tend to be permitted to run in Kano’s Christian areas, though they too can deal with action if the Hisbah thinks Muslims are frequenting them.
However, the current crackdown is concentrated on Muslim areas of Kano, a sprawling city and sports betting the economic center of northern Nigeria.
sports betting wagering shops can be discovered all over the city. The majority of have television screens, and clients see the result of worldwide football matches or horse races on which they have actually staked money.
Mr Aminudeen stated such bookmakers had been able to run under the radar as they had opened under false pretenses.
“They don’t have licences to operate as they were allowed to run computer game centres, which they later on transformed to wagering stores,” he said.
The sports betting market has expanded drastically throughout West Africa in the last few years. The area is roughly divided between a primarily Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south.
Many individuals go to bookmakers to take pleasure in the sociability of other bettors, though mobile apps are likewise popular for sports betting on the outcome of events and sports betting groups.
Nigeria’s debilitating recession has also suggested people want to risk a percentage in the hope of winning big.
However this had actually led to extensive addiction, and parents were even grumbling that children were dropping out of school to gamble, Mr Aminudeen stated.
“These economic problems we are facing in Nigeria is God telling us to alter our ways by stopping sins,” he said.
The raids on Tuesday focused on Munjibir, considered a resort area in the northeast of the city– visitors flock there at weekends.
“I am recommending those running those wagering shops to either closed down or we’ll jail them and take them to [a Sharia] court,” Mr Aminudeen stated.
It is uncertain what penalty they would deal with – frequently, such infringements bring a fine.
Sharia was introduced in Kano in 2000 – as it was in 11 other Muslim-majority northern states – and prostitution, gambling and the consumption of alcohol were banned.