Gambling in Nigeriahas been around since the beginning of time. About $ 50 billion more than Nigeria's GDP, and it will grow by $200 billion in the next seven years. If you said that gambling is a popular thing to do, that would be an understatement.
Due to outdated laws, the gaming markets in Africa looked very small compared to those on other continents. Online gambling is a big part of the business, but because African countries have only 18 percent internet access, they aren't keeping up with the rest of the world. In the last few years, however, a lot of progress has been made, and Nigeria is now one of the few countries where people can bet on sports at both foreign and local businesses.
Due to its strong land-based industry, South Africa is now the continent's leader. The 30 million square kilometer stretch has more land-based businesses than any other on Earth, and they outshine the rest. A fight for the top spot will happen soon. Nigeria is in second place.
Gender And Age For Those Who Play
Between the ages of 18 and 40, most Nigerians who like to bet on sports or casinogames are men who like to do it. They also bet every day (53%). People who are between the ages of 18 and 35 are the most likely to play. People over 60 are the least likely to bet. In the NOIPolls survey, people who took part said that the main reason they invested was to make money. People who work in sports say that most bets are between $ 5 and $ 25.
A 2014 study in the International Journal of Mental Healthand Addiction looked at 189 Lagos residents who were between the ages of 18 and 32. On average, they were 25 years old, and the majority of them said they had a strong desire to gamble. More than half said they bet three or more times a week.
Gambling can have a negative effect on the well-being of young people in Nigeria, a study by Mustapha and Enilolobo in 2019 found. Even though Nigerian men are more likely to gamble than women, female money participation has been increasing over time, especially when it comes to online betting. 10.3% of Nigerians who play on the internet are women, according to the study. However, their participation in the games is slowly increasing each year.
Online Casinos
Gambling market intelligence and consulting firm H2 Gambling Capital said that the African online gambling market was worth four million dollars in 2019 and could be worth more than that. They also said that the African iGaming market is likely to grow over the next four years, and by 2024, it should be worth more than two billion dollars a year. BtoBet thinks that Nigeria will be at the forefront of this new digital world. Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana will do the same thing, as will everyone else. Nigeria and Kenya stand out from the rest because they have more mobile subscriptions and people who use the internet. It was 42 percent in 2020 that Nigerians had access to the web.
Most of the money made by online casinos around the world comes from real money slot machines. Most of the time, the percentage ranges from 70% to 80%, but it can vary from platform to platform. In Nigeria, playing online casino games has taken a back seat to betting on sports. In Nigeria, spinning digital reels and playing virtual card games is not as popular as betting on sports. People who play online games in their area can get access to these games. But if you look at the casino sections of Nairabet and other sites like it, you can see that the slot machine selection is very limited, and the table game selection is also very limited.
Top suppliers don't send their games to the few Nigerian casinos that have them. So, Nigerians who like to play slot machines, blackjack, or baccarat against software or a live dealer on foreign sites like 888 and JackpotCity Casino prefer to play these games on these foreign sites instead. These platforms have a lot more games and are better at them than the ones in your area. Nigerians can play in countries that aren't their own without fear of legal consequences.
Sports Betting
Nigerians are big fans of sports, and they love football the most. A recent survey said that more than 70% of men in the country are obsessed with it, and that the majority of people who gamble on football games do so because they think it is fun (over 70 percent ). Analysts say that most people who bet on sports in Nigeria don't like to bet on their football league because they think it's too predictable. Most operators' odds show that. Thus, they prefer to bet on games from top European leagues, like the English Premiership and the Spanish La Liga.
People in Nigeria still go to betting parlors instead of betting on the internet. However, because there are 169 million mobile phone users and 100 million internet users in the country, the tide should soon turn. The online world should start to take over.
Sports betting in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa could be worth close to $40 billion, according to a report from 2018 on the market. There are more than a few betting businesses in Nigeria. It's not just Naijabet and Bet9jathat are well-known. There are many more that people don't even know about. They include Skybettnaija and Naijadollarbet and Visabet. If you live in Nigeria, Bet9ja is the best site in the country, and it makes about $10 million a month. However, just like with online casinos, residents prefer to bet at offshore sites because of the better service these foreign sites offer. They like 888 Sports and Betway the best. The first sponsors are Cardiff City FC and Birmingham City. The second sponsors are West Ham United and Levante UD. The average Nigerian bets about $8 a day on sports.
Lottery
The National Lottery Act of 2005 set up the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, which is in charge of lotto draw activities in Nigeria. Over 1,600 people work for the company in the city of Abuja. There were about 7.5 million Nigerians who like to play the lottery in 2016. The National Commission said that the profits from the promotion lottery could be about $150 million. This is what they said. They also thought that the SMS lottery could make about $380 million in profit. That's why the industry hasn't been able to meet these goals.
In the last few years, a lot of lottery companies have been able to work in Nigeria, like Western Lotto. Many of these companies are trying to add pari-mutuel gaming to the market and make the market more interesting. Residents can play online lotto games like The Lotter, Lottoland, Jackpot.com, and Lottomania.
Summing Up
It's almost certain that the land-based gambling business will die out in the next decade, as more and more people bet on their phones and on websites. Nigeria is now the second-largest gambling market in Africa. In terms of economic power, Nigeria has more than any other country on the continent. Soon, it will overtake South Africa and become the gambling capital of the region. Sports betting is the most popular way to bet in Nigeria, but casino games are becoming more popular as more and more people try high-quality slots on foreign websites. Online gambling is becoming more legal in Nigeria, and specific online gambling laws have been passed. This means that the Nigerian gambling industry is going to grow.