Will Africa soon welcome online gambling to its shores?

Businesses around the world are constantly looking for new markets to tap into and new opportunities to expand. It’s no surprise then that the online gaming sector has set its sights on expanding to the African continent.

While gambling laws differ across the continent, South African gambling laws currently state that online gambling is still illegal in the country. Land-based casinos and online sportsbooks are allowed within the Republic of South Africa, but there are still many fighting for the legalisation of online gaming.
 

Attempts to change the law

Early in 2015 a bill was being championed as the game changer with regards to finally turning the South African online betting laws in favour of online punters. Unfortunately, the laws still remain the same, but this has not stopped large international gambling companies from staking their claim in Africa.

In 2014, casino software developer, Playtech, started planning their expansion into Africa. Having seen the potential of the largely untapped market, Playtech has laid out plans to be the leaders in the African online gambling market should laws change in their favour.

Playtech has already started their move into Africa with a partnership deal that saw the casino software company and the Peermont Group working together. This has played a large part in paving the way for Playtech. 

"Should the regulatory landscape change we are confident that Playtech is well-positioned to do well across Africa, but with a strong focus on South Africa," Weizer commented on the situation."We have a unique proposition for operators that delivers the best technology, including a retail sports offering tailored specifically for the African market, and are in discussions with a number of companies who see Playtech as a very promising partner."
 

Lucrative market

In 2015 the legal gambling trade in South Africa showed that the market is by no means a poor one. The land-based and sportsbook market brought in revenues of R16.5 billion (approximately €1 billion) with almost R2 billion in taxes being generated. It’s obvious then that the market has potential, but is mostly restricted by current laws and legislation. However, the restricted number of land-based casinos allowed to operate within South African also means that there is very little opportunity for growth in the market. It’s due to this that casino operators are calling for a change in online gambling laws with the hopes of being able to offer African punters a new product and therefore generate larger revenues.

More than just laws that stand in the way of online businesses, another large hurdle that is slowly being overcome is the accessibility of stable internet connections throughout Africa. Compared to as little as a year ago, the number of homes with internet access has already increased drastically, but that still leaves a large portion of the continent in the dark. Thanks to the expansion of companies and the development of poorer areas throughout Africa, even small villages in Nairobi are now gaining access to the World Wide Web.

Naturally, the integration of internet access to African citizens could have a positive effect that benefits more than just online gambling companies. Due the exchange rate many African people could live on as little as €1 a day, which offers them the chance to earn extra cash via the internet. Even a sum as small as €5 could feed a hungry family and thanks to the internet, that could be possibly earned without having to travel across the continent and without leaving families behind.
 

The many faces of Africa

As in any country or on any continent, the wealthier side of Africa, mainly found in South Africa lives and works with the internet on a daily basis. It’s these Africans that international online gambling companies are hoping to attract. In fact, many already have.

Just as in any country where online gambling is still illegal, there are risky illegal gambling establishments that crop up and offer the chance to win big. Many estimate that there are already thousands and thousands of South African people with active gambling accounts across the country. The RealTime Gaming network is said to be the most popular. 

While online gambling companies around the world await the change in African laws, the future looks to be bright with new bills calling for these changes to be passed are always being considered. There’s no doubt that once that happens and international companies can finally expand into Africa, or at the very least South Africa, a large number of people will take to the internet looking for a new way to be a big winner.

Play for Free at Tidy Bingo

Tidy Bingo turns one-year old this month and what a debut year it has been for the bingo site. There have been unique promotions, charity bingo games, the launching of a standalone bingo room, an exclusive progressive jackpot and now there’s free bingo at Tidy Bingo too!

Every day of the year, players at Tidy Bingo have the chance to play in completely free bingo games that have bonus jackpots to play for. From 9am until 1pm daily, Tidy Bingo players can login and grab free bingo tickets for these games, which take place every five minutes, and which have £1 jackpots to play for. Simply visit the Free Bingo room from the bingo lobby and start playing free bingo.

Okay, £1 jackpots may not be the single most exciting bingo games on the internet but with hundreds of players and not thousands, you have a much better chance of winning a prize while playing in these games than you do while playing in free games at sites like Foxy Bingo for example, where you can be competing against thousands (if not tens of thousands) of players in the free games.

If £1 free bingo games aren’t quite getting your ‘bingometre’ going, how does daily £5 free bingo sound? If you have achieved VIP status at Tidy Bingo, you can play in additional free bingo games that take place every night between 10pm and 12am. These games take place every six minutes for two hours long – that’s £100 worth of prizes up for grabs every single day.

If you want to play in the free bingo games at Tidy Bingo, you will need to do one or two things first. For starters, you need to be a member at Tidy Bingo. If you’re not already playing at the site, you can register quickly and simply by visiting Tidy Bingo. Secondly, you must have made at least one deposit at Tidy Bingo if you want to play in the £1 games and you must have reached VIP status and have made a deposit within the last seven days to play in the £5 free bingo games at Tidy Bingo.

So the first year for Tidy Bingo ends with free bingo but what will the next 12 months bring for the successful and popular bingo site? Make sure you’re playing there to find out!

Casino Cruise: Where every day leads to bonus plays!

Fun and entertaining Casino Cruise simply adores their loyal players which is why they’ve created these fantastic new promotions.
 

Monday Breeze Bonus

The Monday Breeze promotion rewards you with a massive 50% Reload Bonus of up to $100 and adds 20 Free Spins for some flavour. 

All you have to do is login to your account, make a deposit and indulge in the rewards. You don’t have to opt-in or use a no bonus code. Just follow the easy steps and watch the magic happen. No Monday will ever be blue again with Casino Cruise’s Monday Breeze Promotion.
 

Pool Party Tuesday

Dive straight into scoring with Pool Party Tuesday. You will receive up to £100 in cash bonuses on deposits made during a Tuesday. Dress up in your brand new swimwear and favourite flip-flops to enjoy rewards by the Pool at Casino Cruise.

Obey the Pool Rules

To join the party, you’ll have to select a bonus when making your deposit and your balance will be boosted with a 50% bonus of up to £100. Don’t forget the pool hours – You are only allowed to enjoy the Pool Party from 00:01 to 23:59 (GMT)
 

Weekend Freebie

It’s the weekend, baby! Kick off your shoes and come relax with Casino Cruise. 

The hard work of the week is finally paying off and you will be entitled to an automatic weekend freebie thanks to your loyal support during the week. Make sure to keep an eye on your inbox every Friday to claim your freebie.

Casino Cruise knows that you work hard and that’s why they want to make sure that you play hard on the weekends. 

As a member of Casino Cruise you will never experience a dull moment or feel underappreciated. Every day brings new rewards to satisfy and entertain. Sign up today to experience the cruise way of life.

Jazz of New Orleans pays €185,788

It can pay to try something a little different once in a while. One very lucky Betsson Casino punter discovered this after he decided to play a random casino game instead of his usual choices. Betsson punter, 38-year-old Esa from Espoo in Finland started playing the Jazz of New Orleans slot and it quickly paid off! In fact, it took only 15 minutes for Esa to win a massive €185,788.

After signing up for his account in November 2015, Esa often played jackpot games and this time he decided to try Jazz of New Orleans, a progressive jackpot based on the famous city in the USA.

Esa was ecstatic with his massive €185,788 win and commented saying: “I can’t believe it finally happened. I think it’s going to hit me after I really see the money. I just picked a game at random and now I really believe that it’s possible for everyone to win, even when playing for less than €1 per spin.”

Winning is what every punter hopes for and this time Esa’s dreams came true thanks to Betsson.

“I don’t know how to describe my reaction when I won. I’ve been dreaming about winning a jackpot for a long time,” the punter said. Esa has already made plans for his big win. “First of all I will take my wife out to dinner and then some serious stuff like paying bills and the mortgage off.”
 

Betsson’s big winners

Over the last three years, Betsson Casino has paid out more than €75,000,000 in big wins! The casino also held a Guinness World Record in 2011 for the highest ever jackpot payout. Betsson punters have a long history of setting and breaking records, and you could be next!

Tidy Bingo Plan a Friday Fiesta

Friday – at last you can put your feet up, pour yourself a glass of something nice and relax for a while. Tidy Bingo are putting some extra fun into your ‘me time’ this month with a massive party on Friday, 19th June. There’ll be boosted chat prizes, tangible gifts and shopping vouchers up for grabs to start the weekend off not just on the right foot, but in sparkly Loubotin high-heels.

These Friday Fun bashes are becoming a regular occurrence at Tidy Bingo. They’re always held in the site’s popular, exclusive room, the Tidy Cupboard, from 7pm. The hostess is CM Blondie, a relative new-comer to the Tidy family, who’s already shown she knows how to get a party started.

The special games start at 7pm with an hour of the Double Up Darts chat game with prizes of 500 loyalty points for winners.

At 8pm Blondie’s Prize Bingo will see players win tangible prizes by matching allocated numbers to bingo-winning calls – a great consolation for players who don’t win in the main game. Thirteen prizes will be won, and Blondie will keep on playing the game until they’re all collected – there could be double delight for some players. You need to be in the room at 7.45pm to collect your lucky numbers.

There’s more chat action after the prize bingo, with Mirror, Mirror, offering more 500-point prizes.

The party winds down with another chat game from 10pm, alongside Love2Shop vouchers to win in the bingo. Blondie will be handing out £10 vouchers to full-house winners on the games at 15, 30, 45 and 55 minutes past the hour. The vouchers – which can be spent at thousands of big high street names, including their websites – are on top of the game prize.

There’s no particular occasion to celebrate on 19th June, so you’re welcome to invent your own reason for a brilliant bingo party – a sunny day, a birthday, a day with a Y in it…

You can join Tidy today and collect a 200% welcome bonus on your first deposit of £10 or more. You’re also guaranteed another £5 bonus and up to £2,500 on the wheel of fortune and a host of other extras for new players including free bingo.