Africa is no stranger to casinos – a lot of major cities throughout the continent, such as Kampala, have at least one physical casino there, and that’s even without touching the fact that a lot of venues, such as bars and hotels, have their own in-house casinos to entertain the guests. With gambling laws which are so lax and allowing, it’s really no wonder that online casino is on its way to becoming a dominant force in the African market. In fact, while it’s generally difficult to estimate just how much it has grown over the last few years, the fact that online casino is set to have its own conference in Lagos, Nigeria, should be extremely telling of its success.

The conference is set to discuss the potential of online gambling on the African continent (specifically in the Nigerian region) and explore just how big the industry could possibly get there. “The region is known for its troubles and government issues, but this market is in its growth stage,” Curtis Roach, the producer of the event, said in an interview. “Nigeria is a leader in this market, and it has a lot of investment dollars. Reforms have happened.” Roach further explained that he has conducted thorough research, and thus far Nigeria has come on top as the absolute leader when it comes to online casino potential, surpassing even casino havens such as Uganda.

The event is expected to target between 150 and 200 guests – a number that is significantly smaller than similar conferences happening in Europe, such as the London Affiliate Conference, which in 2016 attracted over 4,500 delegates from across the globe. Regardless, some people of interest have promised to attend and give talks at the conference, such as Lanre Gbajabiamila, CEO of the Lagos State Lottery Board (LSLB), John Kamara, director of Global Gaming Africa; Tarimba Abbas, director general of the Tanzania Gaming Board; Edward Lalumbe, chief operating officer of the Gauteng Gambling Board; and Matthias Jacek Wojdyla, head of international affairs at FIFA.

“The Nigerian gaming industry is an evolving one and gradually expanding. More states and individuals are becoming more aware of the opportunities that exist in the industry in terms of entertainment, revenue and employment,” Lanre Gbajabiamila said in a press statement regarding the conference. He has a point – if online gambling becomes a major industry within the Nigerian region, it’ll not only create numerous much-needed jobs, but the profits from taxes will definitely aid the government, allowing it to continue its reforms and keep transforming the country in a positive way. While controversial across the world, a decent online gambling industry is generally a win-win-win situation for the government, the business owners and the gamblers in the region.

As you may already know, The International Gaming Awards (IGA) together with the eGaming Review Magazine Awards (EGR) are the two most important events of the year for all the online gambling operators across the world. An award from these two prestigious institutions can take the popularity and reputation of a gambling site to new highs and, therefore, could guarantee them many new clients as well as new business opportunities. This is why, February 1 2016 was an important date for all the reputable gambling operators in the world, and especially in the UK, as that was the day when the 9th IGA Awards were held. The event took place in London and was sponsored by some of the most important companies in the online gambling industry, such as Microgaming, PokerStars, Mr Green, NetEnt, IGT, Play’n’Go, Paysafe, Yggdrasil, to mention but a few. As you can imagine, the biggest names in the field were there, waiting anxiously to find out who the winners in the 25 prestigious categories would be. In this article, though, we will focus mainly on the operators that grabbed the awards which are in the online gambling fields.

Usually I would keep the best for last, but today I’m in a good mood and won’t make you wait to find out who are the winners in the most important categories. First of all, I have to say that as a British player I was a little bit surprised to find out who was the winner in the category ‘Online Gaming Operator of the Year’. I’m talking about Cherry who have, in fact, a great casino featuring mainly games from NetEnt and also a great sports-betting section, but which, unfortunately, are not yet licensed in the UK. Another surprise for me, this time a pleasant one, was that my favourite casino, i.e. Leo Vegas, was named ‘Online Casino Operator of the Year’. The same award in the bingo field was given to Mecca while William Hill won themselves the title of ‘Online Sportsbook of the Year’. Unsurprisingly, Pokerstars took home the award for ‘Online Poker Operator of 2016’ while Mr Green got awarded the ‘Mobile Operator of the Year’ trophy. Last but not least, Sky Betting was the winner in the In-Play Sports category while Eurolotto won in the ‘Lottery Operator for 2016’ category.

When it comes to the more ‘techy’ awards, all the winners were among the biggest names in the gambling software development industry. Play’n’GO took home the award ‘Mobile Product of the Year’, Yggdrasil won themselves the title ‘iGaming Software Supplier’, while Microgaming were named ‘Innovator of the Year’. NetEnt got the award for the best slot supplier product and BetConstruct – for the best technology supplier. Furthermore, Unibet got acknowledged for being the most ‘Socially Responsible Online Operator for 2016’ and Paysafe were announced to be the ‘Corporate Services Supplier of the Year’. As you can see, all the winners in the different IGA categories are pretty famous and well-established in the online gambling field, so, in the end, the event brought us very few surprises.