LETTER FROM ABIDJAN

Junior Beugré, a stallholder at the Loterie Nationale de Côte d’Ivoire (Lonaci) in Abidjan summed up the vade mecum of sports betting in two words: "You need technique and flair," As for the practical aspects, they're just a formality. All you need is a bookmaker's application, an Internet connection and a small amount of money. Beugré is a loyal customer of1XBET, where bets start at 90 CFA francs (€0.13).

Of the three licensed operators in Côte d'Ivoire, 1XBET predominates. As the official partner of the 2024 African Cup of Nations (CAN), which kicks off in Abidjan on January 13, it has enlisted the services of four Ivorian influencers for the launch of its "Rejoins mon Gbonhi!" ("Join my team!" in Nouchi, an Ivorian dialect) campaign in early 2023. Its posters line the walls of Côte d'Ivoire's economic capital, promising a "FantasticCAN" for sports betting devotees.

More and more of them are playing for the jackpot, not only in Côte d'Ivoire, but all over the continent. "Of course there are big wins," said Beugré, even though he himself loses "all the time."

The concept of sports betting as a potential source of income among a population with few economic prospects is just one of the factors explaining the sector's formidable growth south of the Sahara. 1XBet, a platform founded in 2017 in Cyprus, and many other international companies such as Premier Bet, BetClic, SportPesa or betPawa are in position with the aim of capturing the dividends of a still uncharted, poorly regulated market, where mobile data is progressing as fast as the demographic.

Up to the early 2000s, the lion's share of gambling on the continent went to casinos that were frequented mainly by the wealthy, expatriates and tourists. But the boom in cellphones and cellular payment has upended the dynamic. According to estimates by gambling data specialists H2 Gambling Capital and quoted by Bloomberg, Africans will have wagered some $2.9 billion (€2.6 billion) online in 2023, 50 times more than a decade ago.

"Thanks to digital technology, the sector is opening up very quickly. And in countries with very young populations, there's going to be a growing number of players over the age of 18," said Ntoudi Mouyelo, the managing director of betPawa, a platform that operates in 11 sub-Saharan countries through a franchise system based entirely on a 100% digital model that is enabling the brand to grow rapidly.

Mouyelo would like to think that the African Cup of Nations "will increase the sports betting traffic." But it is above all the British Premier League and the European leagues matches, where many players from the continent play, that have channeled the punters’ interest – and their money.

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