At the SBWA 2024 in Accra, Ghana, Joe Andrews, Head of Sales Africa, Sport Information Services (SIS) Betting shared his insights on the company’s journey in the African market and the unique opportunities that lie ahead. With a focus on breaking into this rapidly evolving sector, Joe Andrews illustrated the strategic approach SIS Betting is taking to cater to diverse demographics across the continent.
“It’s been great,” Andrews began, reflecting on SIS Betting’s experience in Africa. “We’re working with a lot of the bigger brands, but there’s more to do, there’s loads more to do.” He expressed genuine enthusiasm about the African market’s potential, noting, “I’m really excited about the opportunities in Africa… we’re looking at growth between now and 2029 of around about 17%, and that’s double the growth of the rest of the world.”
When discussing the competitive landscape, Joe Andrews stated, “It is very competitive, yeah, especially for suppliers.” However, he believes SIS Betting has a distinct advantage due to their diverse product offerings. “What we’ve got in our favor is we’ve got three amazing product verticals, and they’re all very different,” he explained. He emphasized that tailoring these products to specific markets is key: “When we go into a new territory, we need to assess which of those product verticals we think are going to be more profitable.”
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Highlighting one of SIS Betting’s strengths, he pointed out, “We’re steeped in history in horse racing and greyhound racing… that’s what we’re known for historically.” However, he acknowledged the limitations of horse racing’s popularity in Africa, particularly outside South Africa: “Obviously, in Africa, there aren’t loads of countries that have horse racing apart from South Africa.” Instead, Andrews identified another lucrative avenue, saying, “Africans love lotto products, small stakes, big wins, so they are really popular.”
As the conversation shifted to the idea of tailoring content for Africa’s diverse regions, Andrews mentioned, “We have the capabilities of a business to adapt all our content.” He expressed confidence in SIS Betting’s ability to appeal to customers through engaging products: “We just think that the content is going to be profitable enough and interesting enough to customers.”