At the Africa Gaming Expo in Lagos, leading Africa-focused fintech platform PalmPay called for the promotion of responsible gaming by stakeholders in the gaming industry to protect sports pundits from potential risks native to the industry.
The event, which took place in Lagos between March 12 – March 15, 2024, was a melting pot for gaming enthusiasts, regulatory bodies and digital payment platforms from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Botswana and other African countries to promote responsible gaming across the continent.
A lineup of distinguished panelists from around the continent, including PalmPay’s Head of Biller Business Development, Wayne Ruppel, offered insights into the latest trends, innovations and challenges facing the gaming industry in Africa, with a focus on the need to promote responsible gaming among gamers on the continent.
Speaking on “The Role of Payment Providers in Facilitating Secured Transactions in the Gaming Industry,” Mr Wayne expanded on what PalmPay was doing to raise awareness and protect gamers from potential fraud risks in 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 said.
The focus on responsible gaming was apt for several reasons. Data compiled in 2023 by Dutch research firm Newzoo notes that Sub-Saharan Africa’s gaming industry would generate over $1 billion for the first time in 2024, signifying a buoyant market for gaming enthusiasts in the continent.
Also, Nigeria’s betting industry reached over $2 billion in 2020, with over 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 spending $5.5 million daily on betting, according to a 2023 report by the Orange Business Intelligence Technology (ORBIT).
As a digital payment platform of choice for gamers, PalmPay offers customers of the biggest betting companies in Nigeria secure and safe payment gateways to fund their betting wallets. The fintech platform recently signed up a strategic partnership with BetKing to promote responsible gaming in Nigeria.
With a population of over 200 million, Nigeria is Africa’s largest betting market. A National Sports Industry policy document released in 2023 noted that in over ten years, the betting industry would generate up to $4.7 billion in annual revenue, create 10 million jobs and generate between 1.5-3% of GDP.
This exponential growth in the gaming industry in Africa, with a population of over 1.4 billion people, means that more Africans between the ages of 18 and 40 are at risk of fraud and other security risks associated with the gaming industry. However, PalmPay’s multi-factor security authentication features can mitigate these risks.