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Gaming and gambling are not new to Africa. There is no denying that land-based casinos gambling comprises a large portion of the market, but over the last few years, sports betting is increasingly rising in popularity. At the end of 2018, the industry was worth around $37 billion and is expected to continue to increase over the upcoming years.

The growth in mobile money services and rapid Internet penetration has created additional opportunities for digital inclusion, financial inclusion, and innovation, making Africa the leader in mobile growth. The proliferation of mobile led to a considerable expansion in mobile sports betting and other forms of online gambling to spread like wildfire through the continent, with 75% of all online bets in Africa places using mobile devices.

The State of Online Gaming in Africa

Africa has very mixed social and economic developments, but for numerous different reasons, Africa is very attractive for many online operators. Many of the countries offer near-term revenue potential for online sports betting operators and depending on the type of regulation of gaming legislation, grey and black market share could be drastically reduced.

With South Africa generating the most significant turnover due to the legally regulated online sports betting as well as necessary Internet and mobile infrastructure, in other countries like Kenya and Nigeria mobile betting has had the biggest expansion, moving from retail market towards the online market. Additionally, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo are markets following along the sports betting popularization.

The most popular sport that Africans bet on is football. International competitions such as FIFA World Cup, African Cup of Nations, Euro or Copa America along with Premiership, Primera, Serie A, and UEFA Champions League are favourites among punters. Horse race betting, the national lottery outcome and the African sport of Juksei are other popular betting choices.

Regulation and Legislative

Being the first mobile-dominant continent for online sports betting is impressive enough on its own, but if equally astonishing is the fact that even though less experienced than their European counterparts, African regulators have an immense desire, maturity, and level of understanding and knowledge related to gaming and gambling issues problem gambling, sports and betting integrity. Additionally, they accept that technological advancements mean that prohibition of online gaming does not work because customers will always find a way to play.

Moreover, concerned that banning gambling may lead to even higher rates of money laundering and creating stronger links between gambling and crime, African regulators are interested in finding regulatory solutions that will protect both, the payers and the operators. And rather than just taking another jurisdiction’s laws and regulations and applying them as they are, Africans are keen to take the international best practices and adjust, interpret and adapt them in ways that work most effectively in and for their respective jurisdictions.

Alternative Payment Systems

One of the biggest challenges for online operators in Africa is the significant number of unbanked consumers. Thus, deposits and withdrawals need to be executed using various alternative payment methods. One of the most popular solutions comes with mobile payments – the ability to charge a payment directly from the player’s mobile phone bill. This method requires the player to have an account with a mobile operator that cooperates with the online operators.

Additionally, many operators use their retail business as an alternative means of payment, enabling players to deposit and withdraw money directly to their online account, or use vouchers. Again, with the help of the mobile network operators, players can place a bet using the voucher by sending an SMS message or making a call.

Another popular alternative payment solution besides mobile-payments and mobile wallets are cryptocurrencies, in particular, Bitcoin but the market share is still small. The continent has also many local online payment companies as Kpesa, Kopokopo, Pesapal, Jambopay, Ipay and Instantpay, Paypal, and even internationally recognized MyGate, Skrill and Sagepay are also allowed.

The trend of creating alternative payment solutions is actively taking over the iGaming industry, not only in Africa but also throughout Europe, USA and the rest of the world.

Is Africa the next new market?

The increased number of operators moving to Africa to expand their network and offer their online betting and gaming services to this new emerging market, only indicates that Africa might be the new big market for iGaming.

Europe remains fragmented, and with numerous different laws and jurisdictions supporting or banning online gaming, USA is slowly moving to legalised sports betting, leaving Africa to be a brand new market that is still working on its online gaming regulations, giving operators a lot of challenges but also room to navigate through the complicated landscape.

So will the fast development of online gaming and the steady implementation of regulatory law in Africa help Europe see the problems in the patchwork quilt nature of its online gaming regulation law? Can Europe find a way to legalize and regulate online sports betting and gaming across the continent before it loses its market share to Africa?

Every year, we witness new trends in technology that move and shape the next cycle of innovation. Even though some of these disruptive technologies are still developing, their application is expected to change and enhance many processes across various industries. They will shape the future of many companies and challenge business owners and investors alike to either jump on the innovation train or stay behind and lose business.

Changes in the Tech-Landscape

Companies are increasingly looking for new technologies that will increase employee engagement and expand their market shares, while they are carefully gathering data relating to their competitors’ successes of failures.
But which are the dominant trends that spark the innovation train and offer business new opportunities in 2021?

Quantum Computing (supercomputing)

Quantum computing is still an emerging technology and still in its infancy, but it has the potential to reshape problem-solving and find application through a variety of quantum computing services across many industries. Automotive, finance, science, security, insurance, pharmaceuticals, military, and research, to name a few, have the most to gain from this advanced technology.

The ability to process large volumes of data can solve many modern business challenges including data analysis, supply chain logistics, risk management. Quantum computing can provide companies with an undeniable competitive edge and help them deal with problems everyday computers can’t solve.

While quantum computers are not yet available for regular use, it is a good time for businesses to increase their knowledge and understanding of the technology to identify potential applications and consider possible security implications. For most enterprises, this means remaining in the exploration phase through 2022 and exploiting the tech later.

Smart Machines

Smart machines have the potential to change the way many tasks and processes are performed. The fusion of cloud computing, big data, robotics, and IoT leads to creating machines with extended capabilities, capable of operating autonomously and securely, able to avoid and correct errors, learn and anticipate future events, and interact with other machines and systems. The application of smart machines is extensive – from an everyday mundane task to advanced tech processes, offering a competitive advantage to companies that adopt this technology, and the opportunity to move profit margins and streamline manufacturing processes.

This is yet another technology which is still developing and is expected to blossom through 2021, along with other spreading technologies such as intelligent personal assistants, advanced global industrial systems, and smart advisers, making smart machines the most disruptive tech in the history of IT.

API Platforms

API technology has enabled companies from similar and/or complementary industries to work together to maximize business opportunities. Integration of different services increases the chance for companies to earn higher profits from customers while offering relevant services. API platforms are based on the idea of creating an open, connected future, where customers are allowed to see all their information in one place.

One industry to mostly benefit is iGaming because API platforms would enable operators to satisfy all of their players’ needs. Integrating all necessary information and services in one place, among many things, ensures making transparent transactions and never having to put a player on hold because of a queue or missing key information.

Businesses are becoming increasingly dependent on technology-based partnerships, and API integration is the key to unlocking these growth possibilities. They will enable organizations to establish a competitive advantage and additionally, open a whole new customer-base for each company.

Instant payments

The demand for convenience and instant money transfers keeps growing. As a result, new payment solutions are emerging on the market, making it easy for consumers to transfer money between each other or pay for various products and services. At the beginning 2018, InstaPay Tracker reports there are 30 live instant payment solutions worldwide and 18 more announced for the upcoming years.
These new payment solutions are easy to use and offer numerous benefits for businesses. eCommerce and iGaming and the two industries that are expected to reap immediate benefits from implementing instant payment solutions because that way users can sign up and start making payments straight away.

Offering instant payments solution in addition to standard sign up and registration options prevent drop-outs and improve conversions because users won’t have to go through several redirects and wait to be able to start playing or purchase a product. Moreover, instant payment solutions enable full KYC compliance, which further speeds up the process of player registration.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and speech recognition are nothing new, but these trends are still developing and finding new applications daily. The advancements in these fields, however, are very prominent and are changing the way businesses operate.

Robotic process automation software has become very trendy among many businesses because automating time-consuming tasks can save employees time and ensure processes are conducted smoothly and accurately.

An industry that is predicted to be heavily impacted by RPA is iGaming, with the expectancy that bots and automated betting will make an apparent takeover during and post-2021. Moreover, machine learning technology and AI sports traders are continuously developing. Their ability to process data and events immediately and more accurately has many benefits for operators including, processing live feeds and social profiles, setting markets and real-time odds, to name a few.

Technology-Powered Success

Over the years, SciFi movies have depicted AI robots as these powerful machines that will take over the world. Perhaps way too far such a reality, but we do live in a world where the lines between the physical and the digital are becoming increasingly blurred.

Small developing companies have the power to break monopolies, and flexibility has to prove to be one of the most critical aspects of innovation. With new technologies penetrating the business sphere faster, consolidating and diversifying innovation tactics is more important than ever. Fortunately, having a solid strategy in combination with reliable innovation software and management team, and adjusting to changes should prove exciting and beneficial, rather than scary.

Which innovation trends are you looking to introduce to your organization in 2021?

Asia has displayed great progress in improving the gaming industry. Apart from the places that are already established in gambling such as Macau, there are also the countries that are looking to enter the market big time, such as Japan. Let’s take a look at some of the overall state of affairs in gambling on the biggest continent.

China

The rapid improvement of the Chinese economy resulted in the increasing popularity of the gambling industry. However, apart from the state-run lottery, the only two places where people can actually play casino games in China are Macau and Hong Kong.

Being unable to gamble in mainland China, many Chinese citizens visit Macau which is nowadays considered an important gaming center, similar to Las Vegas.

In fact, the overall annual turnover of Macau is five times bigger compared to Vegas, so it’s pretty clear which area can be considered the gaming capital of the world at the moment.

Japan

The Japanese government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, decided to make a historical change in the country by legalizing the building of three integrated resorts.

According to some analysts, Japan is predicted to be a huge gaming market — even bigger than Macau or Las Vegas. Consequently, a big battle among some of the most significant gaming operators is currently underway, as they are trying to win the affection of the government and receive a licence for building an integrated resort (IR).

The government also needs to select three locations which are the most suitable for IRs, and many variables are in the game right now. One thing is certain — Japan’s untapped market is very lucrative for gaming operators.

The Philippines

Filipinos have an opportunity to play casino games and bet on sports country-wide, as they have a very powerful organization that licenses and regulates the market in the country. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (aka PAGCOR) is responsible for licensing casinos in almost every part of the Philippines, except for a couple of special economic zones that have authorities of their own.

Singapore

Singapore has been one of the gambling centers in Asia for quite some time now, as it currently features ten land-based casinos, a horse track, and a couple of poker rooms and bingo halls. In fact, Singapore — Marina Bay in particular — is home to one of the most beautiful casino buildings operated by Las Vegas Sands, and its name is Marina Bay Sands. Chances are high that you already know what we’re talking about if you’re a gaming enthusiast.

India

India has a somewhat love/hate relationship with gambling, as it is legal only in certain parts of the country. Although its residents can bet on horse racing and lottery country-wide, they can enjoy other games only in the states of Sikkim, Goa and Daman. It’s safe to say that many operators are in the “grey area”, meaning they are neither legal nor completely illegal, as India struggles to define some games as gambling, according to their current law.

Foreigners Only Approach

Some countries in Asia, including South Korea and Vietnam, officially banned gambling, yet they offer casinos and other gambling facilities for foreigners. In other words, if you visit South Korea, you will be able to play casino games legally, but South Korean citizens will not.

Islamic Countries

The majority of Islamic countries completely banned gambling. These are mainly Middle Eastern countries such as UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and more. Even if you are just visiting, you will not be able to find any casinos or sportsbooks there, and will probably be prosecuted for taking part in any kind of illegal gambling activity.

Illegal Gambling and Online Gaming

Although some Asian countries either completely prohibit or partly allow gambling activities, their citizens still manage to enjoy various gaming options, including illegal gambling and playing casino games on online offshore-licensed casinos.

In other words, some countries do not focus much on this type of behavior of their residents, meaning that people residing in those countries are free to play games in online casinos. On the other hand, certain states (especially the Islamic ones such as the UAE) pay a lot of attention to this “issue,” banning any type of gambling content, including online gambling.

Our tireless devotion to providing a seamless gaming experience and efficient customer support for our clients is the primary driver that encourages us to work hard and overcome all and any obstacle we encounter. Our passion for innovation in combination with corporate social responsibility, social inclusion, and workplace diversity, have pushed us forward to new victories and accomplishments, which are very happy and proud to share with you.

Success drives Success

New offices, new employees, new partners, many events and conferences attended to gain knowledge and insight and provide better products – 2018 has been an inspiring year for Digitain. Since there is no better way to enter a New Year than to recap and celebrate the achievements of the year we are leaving behind.

Even though success is not something should be collectively measured, we tried to break it down into small individual triumphs that we can put into numbers and assembled a short and sweet summary of our 2018.

It goes like this:

2018 has been very generous to us. Our collective efforts have resulted in an incredible growth of active customers and revenue. But, to achieve these excellent results, we had to reinforce our lines with the opening of 3 new offices in Yerevan and two new data centers in Amsterdam, where we employ 200 new smart, hard-working individuals and created five new departments to be able to cover clients’ demand more efficiently. Additionally, to improve our internal HR and recruitment processes, we created a new database for employees and a “moodle” system integration for employees knowledge testing.

Our growing Digitain family, infused with new recruits, has worked hard for twelve months, and we launched 4 new projects – Digitain website builder, Live Dealer, RGS; developed new tools – Algorithms, Calculators, Feeds, Tournaments, etc; and 2 Bet on Games we are proud of – Keno and Crash. Additionally, we have a new B2B CRM software integration, a new mobile version of TotoGaming and our bookmakers have been actively working on over 365.000 games. But our most significant accomplishment was the development of our new software NGINX Load Balancer which can serve over 50.000 customers at once!

We try hard to keep our clients happy so we implemented over 5000 changes suggested by clients, and dealt with almost one million customer support inquiries, including calls and emails.

To keep things fun, entertaining and educational, we attended numerous events, sponsorships and corporate parties, expos and conferences across the world returned home with 3 awards – Rising Star of B2B – Betting Awards 2018; Notable Companies in Gaming of 2018 – BEGE Awards 2018; and Rising Star in Sports Betting Technology 2019 – CEEG awards 2018..

We’ve attended “World Vision,” “What, Where, When?”, “UI/UX Conference”, “Barcamp Yerevan”, “JS Conference 2018”, “ICE UK and Africa”, “BoF”, “SBEA”, “G2E Asia”, “CGS”, “iGB”, “Sagse Latam”, “BoS”, “CEEGC Awards”, “G2E Vegas”, “Websummit”, “MGS”, “BEGE and BEGE Awards”, “SiGMA”, “Malta iG Awards”, “SBC Awards”.

We also made new friends – we’ve partnered up with 20+ new companies, established over 25 new deals, and got a certificate of the online betting platform for the Republic of Serbia.

And, and there were 600 treated cocktails. How awesome is that?

Happy Holidays from Digitain

Our biggest motivation is keeping our clients happy, and to do that; we do our best to keep our software running smoothly, without interruption or bugs. Even though this past year was fast, challenging and turbulent, and had many ups and down, all our efforts were generously rewarded.

We are happy you are with us, and we would like to thank you for the trust and patience humbly. We are hoping to continue growing and conquer new heights together with you, our valued clients and supporters.

Our whole team at Digitain wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for 2019, filled with abundant joy and love, overflowing with success, health, wealth and happiness.

Today’s consumers are impatient. They want to stream movies and TV shows on demand and have their online orders delivered in less time than it takes to place them. In most industries, speed has become the deciding factor between being preferred and being ignored by customers.

The iGaming industry is no exception. Players expect to be able to play their favourite games as soon as the website or mobile app loads and cash out their winnings at the very moment they choose to stop playing. The ability to provide a fast, if not instant, deposit and payout solution is tipping the scales of power into the hands of the players, forcing iGaming operators to accept the trend and innovate or lose customers (and profit).

The Thrill of Winning

The number of players transitioning from land-based venues to online gaming platforms is continuously increasing because the second option provides them with improved convenience, flexibility, and ease. The question those players most commonly have is how to withdraw the winnings they have accrued while playing online. And of course, the payments and the ability to cash out earnings is one of the most critical aspects of online gaming.

Almost all iGaming operators offer a fantastic gaming experience, with sound and light effects, animations, and graphics. But it’s not the gaming experience that players or the operators are after. While in brick-and-mortar venues the players have a different winning experience where they can take their chips and cash out straight away, for online operators providing instant payouts is still one of the biggest challenges they face.

Even though the various new payment methods support instant deposits through payment cards and bank transfers, payouts still can’t be processed as fast. The payouts to debit and credit cards can sometimes take between one and five days, and bank wire transfers can take even longer up to ten days. Digital wallets can be faster, but still, take up to twenty-four hours.

The thrill of winning is what drives iGaming forward. For players, getting instant rewards and the chance to either play again or take their winnings off the platform is what builds trust and loyalty to specific gaming platforms. At the same time, this winning thrill translates into an eagerness to play more and spend more, thus gives operators an opportunity to win back the payouts they just made.

Giving Players What They Want

Providing players with exceptional gaming experience and optimal payment are the critical concerns of iGaming platforms. With payouts being the biggest concern, payment apps offer a solution that is beneficial to both sides.

When players use a payment app to fund their gaming account, first they deposit the money into the app via a bank transfer or a payment card. This way, the deposit a player makes is more reliable because the app verifies the transform between the gaming platform and player’s bank.

The app is directly integrated into the gaming operator’s platform, and funds can be moved in real-time. The funds then are transferred from the payment app into the player’s gaming account. From there, players can enjoy gaming, and when winnings are accredited to their account, they can move them instantly to their payment app or keep playing.

Adding a payment app as another payment method to a gaming platform can be vital for retaining players and attracting new ones. Moreover, it leads to higher deposit acceptance rates and provides a more convenient and faster way to reload funds to gaming accounts without the typical redirects. But most importantly, it enables instant payouts. And most players would rather pay a small fee and withdraw their winnings from the gaming platform into the payment app right away, than wait.

Rewarding Instant Deposits with Instant Payouts

Reputation is a crucial factor that among many things relies on brand image and customer service. Providing a seamless gaming experience and advanced payment solutions plays a considerable part in this equation.

The speed of processing payments and withdrawals is absolutely critical – if the withdrawal of winnings takes too long, the platform risks losing the players. While delays for payouts used to take a few days or even a week several years ago, now instant payments are the new norm. With numerous benefits for operators including boosting ROI on acquisition and reactivation, building loyalty thought instant withdrawals, and full KYC compliance, it is no wonder iGaming companies are accepting this new trend with arms wide open.

In combination with seamless gaming experience, the free and immediate access to the gaming platform and the instant payout possibility are the perfect recipes for keeping players satisfied. They are eager to use a platform in the long run and encouraged to deposit again, stay in the game longer and spend more.

Skill Games 5 new updates:

1. Backgammon (antibote)
2. Bet on games (Keno)
3. Bet on games (Crash)
4. Pasoor
5. Toto 21

Online gaming has always been an industry that rides on the first waves of technological innovation.

Backgammon

It’s hard to imagine life 50 years ago, let alone 500, but backgammon made its first appearance 5,000 years ago. This is one of the oldest board games in existence, and it’s still played all over the world today. Many people play the game purely for entertainment purposes, but gambling on backgammon is also very common and growing in popularity.

And, since, online gaming has always been an industry that rides on the first waves of technological innovation, Digitain has recently made some modifications in the game of backgammon, capacitating it and encouraging players to make brave moves.

The introduction of Antibotes prompts the players when to make a move and how to make moves.
The second important feature is to change the dice/dices.

Keno 

Keno’s roots are in China, and the game was brought to the United States by Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s. It was originally played with 80 Chinese characters, which in the United States were replaced by 80 Arabic numerals.

“There are two types under which keno is played – Keno and Gold Keno, both of them played in different time formats. Keno is often compared to lottery games. It is simple to play and highly engaging. This game is played worldwide and it’s in high demand in the iGaming industry”, said Arsen Tadevosyan, Digitain’s Skill Games Product Officer.

The core feature in Keno is that all of the selections in Keno are randomly drawn by what is known as a random number generator (RNG). This randomizes outcomes of numbers to ensure fairness and transparency with every call that is made. Your winnings in Keno are determined by your bet, the number of matching numbers on your Keno card with the called numbers, and the amount of numbers that you actually selected.

Crash

Digitain’s P2P games allow Digitain partners access to the latest skill-based games that will enable your brand to reach new player demographics that can help drive player engagement that delivers bottom line revenue and profits.
It should be known from the get-go that Crash is completely developed by Digitain.

Pasur

Pasur is a popular fishing card game. The game process is attractive and absorbing. The game’s interest, color and technical solutions, as well as rules give the game a unique glamor. We left the game as it was played before. And as you know it was created in the 19th century. Thus, we have maintained the true values of the game, giving it a modern technology spin and spirit.
We offer conventional the following bid.
Sur- If a player could take all table cards without playing a J, and then he scores a Sur.

Toto 21

Toto 21 is a card game designed for two players. If you are a lover of blackjack and you do not want to lure yourself to complicated rules, then this is the game for you. The rules are easy to understand, remember and play. We kept it so clear that you could focus on the game process. Define rules as attractive as possible and enjoy the simplicity and attractiveness of the game.
Here you can find conventional bid opportunities such as:
Blind Cards in case of use of the blind card, there is 1 closed card, which opens only at the end of the game
Hidden Cards if a participant created or joined a table with this option, then in case the system chooses him as Player, his cards will be open only to him and will be hidden to his opponent (who was chosen by the system as “Dealer”).
Private Game choosing this option nobody can watch the game in the process
Rating– the game result determines player ranking (in case of win it grows, in case of lost, it reduces)
And finally, remember the best iGaming Software Provider always makes updates and creates engaging games.

The changes in the digital economy have become more apparent than ever and made an impact on the software testing industry as well. As consumers have become more demanding and impatient, software development and testing can’t keep up using traditional methods and practices. A speedier delivery has become mandatory, and one of the best and most efficient ways to achieve this is to embrace machine learning and AI as part of software testing practices.

Solving the main challenges of traditional software testing

Traditional software testing used to be a simple manually performed task where the tester would use a system as a potential end-user would, go through a list of actions and steps, then compare results with expectations to check if the system is working as intended or has bugs. Nowadays, this has become almost impossible to do this manually because systems are becoming more complex and testers are facing huge amounts of data they need to check and handle in a very short and limited period.

Luckily, testers have technology on their side as well and can apply a new, automated and more efficient approach – one that combines machine learning, artificial intelligence, and predictive analysis.

The machine learning and AI approach, which teaches systems to learn while they do, and apply the acquired knowledge in the future, make software testing not only faster but also more precise. This is because automated AI-powered software testing systems have the ability to learn without human intervention or complex programming.

The testing systems should improve from experience, automatically access data, run tests with it, learn from the results, and as a result improve the quality of the tests by learning patterns and predicting problems. What is even better, regardless of how much the amount of data increases, machine learning and AI-powered software testing can handle it, with the margin of error decreasing constantly.

Moreover, as market demand grows, it is important for enterprises to be able to predict customers’ needs more accurately. And machine learning and predictive analysis offer businesses the opportunity to analyze and understand customers better so they can predict what new products or features to develop. This is also necessary for having an uninterrupted and shorter testing process that leads to creating solutions that offer improved user experience.

Is AI the future of software testing?

AI and machine learning have become an increasingly important component of software testing and QA. It gives testers the opportunity to better understand the end-users’ needs, compare them to the software’s features and options, and react faster to changing market expectations.

In order to improve software quality, release software faster and scale-up activities, enterprises need to seriously consider automating their software testing.

This new approach is set to fill in the gaps of traditional software testing methods, make the whole process more efficient, and most importantly, deliver results more relevant to end-users’ needs.