SiGMA Group has announced plans to hold summits across Africa. The expos in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana are expected to boost the booming industry.
Internationally acclaimed iGaming expo and event organiser SiGMA Group has announced its plans to launch shows across Africa over the course of 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Malta-based company, which has been going since 2014, will hold its first African event in the South African capital city of Cape Town in March 2022.
Kenya and Ghana to Follow
The SiGMA super show will be extended to stages in Kenya in 2023 and Ghana in 2024, thus bringing East and West African iGaming together. The expansion into Africa means SiGMA Group now has a presence on four continents – Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America – which makes it one of the leading forces in the international iGaming sector.
By setting the African shows in multiple different reasons, the international company believes it will be able to offer a more comprehensive and inclusive overview of Africa’s diverse and large gambling markets. This, in turn, should increase the opportunities for industry development and investment. Ultimately, the organisers expect to see considerable sector growth after the expos.
The African Programme
The summit in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana will follow the successful formula of previous SIGMA shows, including high-end conferences, premier networking opportunities, curated expo floors and a prestigious guest list full of international movers and shakers. Regulation of African jurisdictions, particularly in the online arena, will be high on the agenda of discussion topics.
Currently, online gambling is explicitly permitted or regulated in under 20% of African markets. This leads to significant tax revenue loss, and a lack of customer protection and support for problem behaviour. As the industry continues to grow exponentially across the continent, regulation is of increasing concern and its top billing at SiGMA Africa is understandable.
Africa “Ripe with Opportunity”
Eman Pulis, founder of SiGMA Group, commented that the African marketplace is exciting, diverse and “ripe with opportunity”. Opening a show on the continent, he added, was the right more for SiGMA as the company expands its portfolio of events and revamps its website to offer translations into six different languages.
Cape Town was chosen for the inaugural expo, Pulis continued, because SiGMA didn’t want to compete directly with Clarion in Johannesburg, and because the capital city is home to several gaming companies. In addition, Cape Town is a desirable tourist destination and should easily attract guests. He concluded that he was excited to check the metropole out – COVID-19 permitting, of course.