Africa/Ghana as a market interesting for Affiliate Managers?

[fishwater]

Hi everyone,

I'm working for a global media company (+8000 employees) and we're currently expanding into the African market, specifically Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. We own one of Ghana's largest sport news sites and I would be interested to learn
-whether this market is at all covered by the big/trustworthy programmes
-where I can find an overview on affiliate programmes per market (if that even exists at all)

Thanks a lot already for your help and input!

Julian

[LukeC]

Welcome to GPWA Julian. As far as I am aware, sports betting is illegal in Nigeria so you might want to consult your legal team before advertising there. I would expect most of the major companies accept players from Ghana and Kenya (Paddy Power do) although they would not be a focus for any of these companies and with little data on player value from those countries, I would be surprised if operators are willing to work on anything other than the standard revenue share models initially.

I don't believe there's anywhere that would list affiliate programmes that cover these territories and I would just check the restricted territory lists of the bookmakers.

[webanalysissolutions]

Ladbrokes have an Africa specific bonus -

Other than that no one really focuses on African customers - too much fraud and low value, and difficulty for a lot of customers in depositing and withdrawing, and also proving identity. However I do see it as a massive growth area in the future - they're crazy about football and sports betting.

[webanalysissolutions]

Julian, PM me if you would like to discuss - we've got worldwide traffic on both our sites and if you're looking for African traffic then we could look into opportunities.

[webanalysissolutions]

Ladbrokes have an Africa specific bonus -

Other than that no one really focuses on African customers - too much fraud and low value, and difficulty for a lot of customers in depositing and withdrawing, and also proving identity. However I do see it as a massive growth area in the future - they're crazy about football and sports betting.

Sorry, didn't mean to post an affiliate link. Here is an example of Ladbrokes marketing to Africa. They've got a specific Africa landing page - http://www.ladbrokes.com/en/africa-freebet/ (this isn't an affiliate link!)

[eaton2003]

African nations especially places like Nigeria are avoided by most bookies due to the high risk of fraudulent use of credit cards and scams. Although players from Ghana are accepted by most bookie's they tend to avoid marketing to these nations. Another main draw back from African nations is the lack of the users having access to credit cards and e-wallets to make deposits.

[PROFRBcom]

As many posters have already discussed, these nations and that continent are fraught with issues regarding fraud and moving money to and from customers. You may consider some of the "offshore" operators however, i.e. those who supply games to gray markets.

I suggest the offshore sites because they all have the infrastructure to accept Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals. Other still have other crypto-currencies, and one of the larger ones recently began accepting 70 different cryptos. From what I understand, Bitcoin and other crypto currency use is on the rise in Africa (as well as the rest of the world) due to all of the financial issues facing African nations, most of which are still "developing" and considered "3rd world". NONE of these offshore sites are targeting those markets at all... could be easy to corner the market, whatever market exists anyway.

[alexpratt]

Africa represents a big opportunity for affiliates and I know a few who are making good money already in a whole bunch off countries such as Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Lagos State etc. You can view a supplement on Africa we did in iGaming Business here http://www.igamingbusiness.com/africa-focus-2017 and here is an interview with an affiliate that is doing well in the region http://www.igbaffiliate.com/articles...nd-predictzcom

Good luck!

[Betivity]

For some reason, I would relate some African countries to an increase in fraudulent behaviour. Similar to what Eaton posted earlier.

[alexpratt]

For some reason, I would relate some African countries to an increase in fraudulent behaviour. Similar to what Eaton posted earlier.

As I understand it this is coming under control - The key is that its high volume, low bets and with teh vast majority on mobile... If you have traffic its worth geo targeting and working with the local operators in the market

[Isaiah]

Players from Nigeria, Ghana, etc, are not understanding complex sites and also basic things in betting.

Generally, it's like 90% of non educated population that trying to learn the internet world. Imagine how hard can be to gain something from them.

They are still in the beginning of this, and will take years to come over with something good.

Don't try the big names, bet365 etc. They will not convert at all. You may get many thousands of clicks for 1 reg, or many regs that will never deposit.



In my opinion, their locals that now have online presence, can convert, but in very very low volumes.

Nairabet & Bet9ja are their big names, all others are nothing.

Those two, have more friendly pages for Nigerians, they try to explain them basic things, like how to bet and how to deposit, while they have some payment methods Nigerians are already familiar with.

[Syndicate]

I would pretty much agree with this statement, and more importantly the companies you mention have a land based presence (shops).

You also have to consider that mistrust is a two way thing in Africa, and by that i mean bookmakers think they are going to get screwed on chargebacks etc while punters believe they won't get paid.

If you think of the history of betting, most of it starts with land based and then progresses to the internet. You would also think that places like Africa would be better suited to customer cards, people going in to a shop and depositing/withdrawing while having the possibility to bet online.

Last but not least i totally agree about the lack of education in betting, they need everything simplified. When you operate tipping sites you can see that from questions/requests received from Africa.

I mean, we must get 150 requests per week to fill out the Ghana pools. I've given up trying to explain that if we did it for everyone and we were successful, the dividend would be so low because the number of winners sharing.

To be honest African followers are totally worthless to us, and on that note i have a question. Should we block Africa altogether, or is their some intrinsic value (ranking) because of increased visitors?

Players from Nigeria, Ghana, etc, are not understanding complex sites and also basic things in betting.

Generally, it's like 90% of non educated population that trying to learn the internet world. Imagine how hard can be to gain something from them.

They are still in the beginning of this, and will take years to come over with something good.

Don't try the big names, bet365 etc. They will not convert at all. You may get many thousands of clicks for 1 reg, or many regs that will never deposit.



In my opinion, their locals that now have online presence, can convert, but in very very low volumes.

Nairabet & Bet9ja are their big names, all others are nothing.

Those two, have more friendly pages for Nigerians, they try to explain them basic things, like how to bet and how to deposit, while they have some payment methods Nigerians are already familiar with.

[xecutable]

Ran a few numbers myself, and in order to play for leisure you should be making enough to spend a little. From what I see from the average numbers of salaries around that part of the world, even if they stake everything you've got, you'd be not making enough. In addition the not enough would be from some poor soul that wants to profit from the whole thing and is looking for the holy grail.

That being said, I dislike the way everyone refers to the past and screams FRAUD. It's 2017 and if I have to point fingers and scream FRAUD, I'd do it towards Operators and the UK. They pull/ed bigger scams than any Nigerian out there.

[Isaiah]

I would pretty much agree with this statement, and more importantly the companies you mention have a land based presence (shops).

You also have to consider that mistrust is a two way thing in Africa, and by that i mean bookmakers think they are going to get screwed on chargebacks etc while punters believe they won't get paid.

If you think of the history of betting, most of it starts with land based and then progresses to the internet. You would also think that places like Africa would be better suited to customer cards, people going in to a shop and depositing/withdrawing while having the possibility to bet online.

Last but not least i totally agree about the lack of education in betting, they need everything simplified. When you operate tipping sites you can see that from questions/requests received from Africa.

I mean, we must get 150 requests per week to fill out the Ghana pools. I've given up trying to explain that if we did it for everyone and we were successful, the dividend would be so low because the number of winners sharing.

To be honest African followers are totally worthless to us, and on that note i have a question. Should we block Africa altogether, or is their some intrinsic value (ranking) because of increased visitors?

We have the same thoughts. I thought many times to block this useless traffic from those countries, although they are really a lot. Maybe 15% or more of total traffic. I am tired to answer to silly questions, and explain the most simple things.

Anyway, I still didn't blocked anything, only positive fact is that they create some buzz with comments etc.

Maybe a small hope for the future that they will be an advanced country some day

About rankings in such cases, i do not think this will hurt any ranking.

From the other side of the coin, maybe it is our fault that we get such useless traffic. Wrong keyword research, not well targeted content etc. Just my few ideas. Still, getting quality traffic from advanced countries, is the key, but difficult to achieve. So, we go on and we learn

[afamdman]

wow, i am from Nigeria and the only thing i can tell you is ignore this market at your own loss. enough said. you might want to study the market more. i can tell you for a fact that the book makers here in the country are working with internet companies to block foreign betting sites, what does that tell you. anyways enjoy your comments. someone even used very negative words to describe my people. shakes head.

[Betivity]

Yeah, I honestly wouldn't spend my time (that I already don't have enough of) in this region. I could hand pick a few African countries maybe but Nigeria or Ghana probably won't be one of them.

[TheGooner]

As I understand it this is coming under control - The key is that its high volume, low bets and with teh vast majority on mobile... If you have traffic its worth geo targeting and working with the local operators in the market

No - it's not. At all.

[xecutable]

I was gonna give some of those local books a try, given on the response above, but indeed I DID MY RESEARCH and YOUR PEOPLE and YOUR LOCAL BOOKS have VERY PREDATORY TERMS.

So even if everything was fine, having quotas, very loose terms in terms of payment and what not is not what one is looking for. I'd rather lose on regs and traffic conversion that get shaved off and players stolen.

With that being said, I can't see myself blocking the traffic, cause afterall a website is providing a service, whether you monetize it or not.

[hazartnata]

Nairabet have good aff. program at least for Nigeria, and the affiliate managers are quite nice and responsive. Not that I made a single penny from my Nigerian visitors