During the Africa Gaming Expo held in Lagos, PalmPay, a prominent Africa-focused fintech platform, emphasized the importance of promoting responsible gaming within the gaming industry. This call aimed to safeguard sports enthusiasts from potential risks inherent in the sector.
The event, which occurred from March 12 to March 15, 2024, served as a hub for gaming aficionados, regulatory authorities, and digital payment platforms from various African nations including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Botswana, among others. Its primary objective was to advocate for responsible gaming practices continent-wide.
Distinguished panelists, including Wayne Ruppel, PalmPay’s Head of Biller Business Development, provided valuable insights into the current trends, innovations, and challenges confronting the African gaming industry. They underscored the imperative to prioritize responsible gaming among players across the continent.
Speaking on “The Role of Payment Providers in Facilitating Secured Transactions in the Gaming Industry,” During the event, Mr. Wayne elaborated on PalmPay’s efforts to increase awareness and safeguard gamers from potential fraud risks within the gaming industry.
“At PalmPay, our wallet is secure and has multi-factor security authentication features, including device-binding. This means there must be confirmation before a user logs into your account. When someone illegally tries to log into a user’s account, they’ll be required to identify themselves, including facial recognition.
“Also, among other security features and awareness programmes to promote responsible gaming, we run educational campaigns across our media channels to educate PalmPay users about the need to secure their wallets.
“Furthermore, we’ve optimized payout. Initially, people could create a betting account and use it to withdraw money into another betting account with a different name. With our name-binding feature, that is no longer possible. With this feature, the name on the account a user is withdrawing to must correspond with the name on the payout account,” Mr Wayne stated.
The emphasis on responsible gaming holds significant relevance for several reasons. Data collected in 2023 by Dutch research firm Newzoo projected that Sub-Saharan Africa’s gaming industry would surpass $1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2024, indicating a thriving market for gaming enthusiasts across the continent.
Moreover, Nigeria’s betting sector exceeded $2 billion in 2020, with a reported 60 million Nigerians aged between 18 and 40 spending approximately $5.5 million daily on betting activities, as outlined in a 2023 report by Orange Business Intelligence Technology (ORBIT).
As a preferred digital payment platform among gamers, PalmPay provides secure and reliable payment gateways for customers of Nigeria’s leading betting companies to fund their betting accounts. Recently, the fintech platform entered a strategic partnership with BetKing to advocate for responsible gaming practices in Nigeria.
Nigeria, with a population exceeding 200 million, stands as Africa’s largest betting market. A National Sports Industry policy document released in 2023 projected that over the next decade, the betting industry could yield up to $4.7 billion in annual revenue, generate 10 million jobs, and contribute between 1.5-3% to the country’s GDP.
The rapid expansion of the gaming industry in Africa, home to over 1.4 billion people, poses increased risks of fraud and security threats for Africans aged between 18 and 40 involved in gaming activities. Nonetheless, PalmPay’s implementation of multi-factor security authentication features can help mitigate these risks.
