Peter Kesitilwe, former head of the Botswana Gambling Authority, will spearhead new African gaming trade body, the African iGaming Alliance (AIA), a group whose goal is to forge collaboration between operators and stakeholders to help steer policymakers away from increased taxation and other counterproductive measures.
The group was formed by four prominent operators in the market – Betway, BetPawa, 888Africa and Sportybet – but Kesitilwe said it is actively recruiting more operators.
Kesitilwe brings over nine years of experience at the Botswana Gambling Authority, where he acted as CEO for the last almost two years.
Speaking to iGB on Tuesday, Kesitilwe’s core message is the African iGaming Alliance is not looking to compete with gambling regulators or independent operators across the continent.
“We’re not competitors, the intention is to collaborate, complement and work together as a pan-African trade alliance,” Kesitilwe says.
“We shouldn’t see ourselves as competitors when we’re complementing them. That’s why we are saying let’s harmonise issues of taxes, issues of responsible gambling through our alliance. Let’s speak with one voice.”
Tackling problem gambling using a sector-wide approach is also a top priority for the African iGaming Alliance.
“At the forefront of what the alliance intends to do is to promote responsible gambling frameworks across Africa,” he adds.
“This is quite important because the policymakers and governments of these markets would rather increase taxes if we have more problem gamblers.”
Sector must encourage ‘set gambling tax rate’
On taxation, Kesitilwe says the sector must be firm in pushing for “set tax [rates]” to avoid pressure from policymakers to contribute more to government coffers.
“We will be the bridge between operators and regulators to achieve this,” he says.
Africa is experiencing a huge influx of player activity across gaming, as smartphone usage increases rapidly and countries gain better internet connectivity.
But being such a huge continent, made up of markets at varying maturity levels, Kesitilwe foresees regulatory fragmentation across Africa being a huge pain point for the growing sector.
He is calling for a centralised body to standarise regulations between neighbouring markets.
Standardisation needed across market-by-market regulations
“There is regulatory fragmentation in Africa where you find one operator will be applying for a licence in Nigeria, while also applying for one in Ghana [but] the regulations are quite different,” he notes.
“We have what we call the Gambling Regulator Africa Forum (GRAF) which could help a lot with standardisation of licensing frameworks and cross-border coordination.”
The influx of illegal and unregulated operators, which Kesitilwe says makes up to two-thirds of the industry in Africa, is seriously undermining consumer protection and responsible gambling standards, he believes.
From a consumer perspective, he says it is difficult for players to differentiate between legal and illegal sites, but regulators must be careful which operators they tarnish with the black-market brush.
“If we operate properly, governments won’t be losing up to $2 billion-$5 billion yearly in unpaid taxes due to the black market,” Kesitilwe adds.
High banking costs hindering the sector
Elsewhere, operators are grappling with extremely high costs in relation to banking and payments services.
In August, Betway parent Super Group reported it was considering adopting crypto payments in Africa to help offset high banking costs and attract new players.
“In the African side of our business, we have a banking issue there,” Super Group CEO Neal Menashe said at the time.
“I think crypto and coins can make a huge difference there because banking is a really big cost in Africa, especially for us onboarding our customers and then payments across the continent.”
Kesitilwe agrees that monopoly payments aggregators and high fees are hindering the sector’s progression in Africa.
“There still remain some inconsistencies, and in some regions it is very expensive due to issues of monopolies around payment aggregators. Through dialogues and research, we seek to address these,” Kesitilwe tells iGB.
Benefit of a regulatory background
Kesitilwe is ultimately optimistic his technical know-how will benefit the African iGaming Alliance.
“I was at the helm of the gambling authority of Botswana so bring with me a wealth of regulatory experience and background,” he says of securing his position at the helm of the AIA.
“I would say I bring firsthand regulatory insight into how governments view compliance, issues of AML/CFT and responsible gambling.
“Also I’m experienced in forming legislation, modernising regulatory frameworks, issues of credibility with regulators across Africa, so my role allows me to bridge the gap between the industry and the regulators.”
New head of the African iGaming Alliance trade body Peter Kesitilwe flags high banking fees, regulatory fragmentation and a lack of collaboration between operators as bottlenecks for the burgeoning African market.