Africa Focus
Q&A: JOHN KAMARA
The director of Global Gaming Africa and Clarion’s ICE Africa ambassador
gives his predictions on which markets and verticals are set for growth
across Africa in the near future
iGamingBusiness: How did your new role as ICE Africa
ambassador come about and what does it entail?
John Kamara: Our company, Global Gaming Africa, works as
a partner to Clarion in different markets. This is an ancillary
ambassadorial role helping to give ICE Africa a face; we wanted to
add more visibility to the event. It’s about promoting the message
of ICE Africa and acting as an ambassador in terms of when the
company is not present, answering questions relating to government,
relating to different types of regulators, and also being able to use my
infl uence in the local market to gather support for the event.
“Chinese businesses
in some countries in Africa
are bringing local handmade
slot machine products into local communities
and many people are playing these things”
Your fi rm helps companies looking to come into Africa.
Which countries/territories do you think offer the most
investment potential right now, and why?
I think Mozambique is one. Nigeria traditionally has been a big one,
and there has been a shift in Nigeria to a stage where companies
can just purely be online and still make decent revenue
unlike before when you always had to do retail.
I think Tanzania is still a growing market.
Uganda is an interesting market – I think
it needs more investment but there is an
undertone of good opportunity for growth
there. The French-speaking countries such
as Senegal are quite good markets right
now for investment as they slowly try
to break down the monopolies of the
existing traditional gaming companies
there. The traditional markets of Kenya
and Ghana, they are good markets but
they are growing at a fl atter rate than
these other new markets. Botswana is
trying to licence itself now so within
the next year there is also potentially
a new growth market there.
iGamingBusiness | Issue 112 | September/October 2018
63