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Hello everyone, welcome to iGaming Daily and to the Road to Lisbon episodes, where we're going to bring guests, speakers of the SPC Summit event to just share a bit more about their areas of expertise. Before we dive into the episode, I would like to thank Optimove, the number one CRM solution and also sponsor of iGaming Daily. For this episode, I am joined by an Amazing guys. I'm very excited for you guys to listen to what she has to say. But first of all, let's go with the introductions. I am Ana Maria Menezes, business journalist for SBC Noticias Brasil and also a big enthusiast of the agaming market in Africa. Today I'm talking to someone who blew my mind with her excitement about women's visibility in the market. And I'm talking about Lois Frye, one of our speakers at the SBC Summit in Lisbon. She's the co-founder of Initiative International and also founder of Women in Gaming Africa, a platform that was made to develop and empower African women all across the continent. Lois, it's a pleasure to have you here. How are you doing today? Please introduce a bit to our listeners. Hi, Anna. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah. So I think you've already said it really. I co-founded Initiate International, which is a recruitment business specializing in gaming on the African continent. And about two years ago, I also founded Women in Gaming Africa, which is a platform to empower and offer advocacy, I suppose, for women on the continent. I think we've got 17 or 18 countries represented as part of our membership in Women in Gaming Africa. And I'm super excited to see that this year, obviously, SBC Lisbon is going to have an African stage, which is really exciting for us. Louise, can you please share with us a little of what the listeners, the attendees of the event can expect from these panels? Yeah, of course. So first off, I just want to say that it's just really cool to have a spotlight on Africa. And specifically, we've got a whole like afternoon agenda for Africa, which is really exciting. I think what's really interesting about this one is that the diversity of people we have on that stage. So We've got some of the top C levels from across the continent from operators. We've also got regulators from across the continent representing, I think, three or four different countries, which obviously is really interesting to hear about. think we've got Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana from memory. And then obviously we've got people who are working in the thick of it in terms of marketing, casino. Obviously we're seeing a huge increase in the casino. on like casino side of things in Africa. So that's also interesting, I think, for people that will be attending SBC and listening to those panels. And I think just generally giving Africa an actual stage. mean, often you find at conferences that the emerging markets of which Africa doesn't want to be called an emerging market, because we were South Africa, fun fact for the listeners, South Africa was one of the original. countries that started the gaming industry back in the early 90s. So we're not really an emerging market, but nonetheless, we'll take it. So it's really nice to see that we have a stage for us on day one, which is always great because day one is like when everyone's really pumped for the start of the conference. And the nice thing is we are going to have a networking event straight after Women in Gaming for friends and allies. So it's a whole day of Africa that everyone's going to get to enjoy. So it's going to be really exciting. I am as well very excited to attend. Lois, I know that you were part of discussions about women as gamblers. And we also know that women are responsible for supporting a lot of their families in the African continent. But with the numbers that I ran through in South Africa alone. The number goes up to 38 % of women who are either the primary or the sole breadwinners of their households. Do you believe that the market, and not only talking about operators here, do you believe that the market treats those women as a priority target audience? Yeah, wow. Okay. First off, what I'm going to say is that obviously Africa is made up of 54 countries and because there's obviously so many cultural nuances between each of them. And even if we looked, you know, South Africa across the border to one of the bordering countries, they'll also have differences. What I probably would say is that the one thing that is quite pertinently obvious with Africa is that we do have a really young continent with young people coming up and that, it's going to be a very youthful continent in terms of numbers. And the big majority of women and disposable incomes are with women, you know, so there is a big there is a big sort of cultural nuance that it's matrifocal head of households. So I can't obviously give you the exact statistics, but there are more women that are in charge of households with disposable incomes than there are men. And I think that traditionally, because from a regulating perspective, it's mostly been sports books that have been regulated in Africa. And therefore, you know, normally that's the male gaze, which again, you could say that that's short-sighted because lots of women enjoy sports. But I think with the rise of casino on the continent, the rise of casino in online, I definitely think that operators need to be perhaps looking at different strategies to attract more women players in. I think an interesting one I could look at is I know that Beck King in Nigeria rebranded to Bet Queen during March for Women's Month or International Women's Day, should I say. And I thought that was a really smart way to kind of start connecting with women players. So I think we're going to see more initiatives like that up and coming. And I especially think because we've got a younger, more tech first continent, I think that would be operators who are missing a trick if they didn't start thinking about how they could bring more female players into the four. You mentioned that Africa is going to be even more of a youthful continent. So we're also talking then about young women as players. Do you see that casinos, as you mentioned specifically, the rise of casinos, do you believe that they are already focusing on those young players or yeah, maybe not so much? Do you have some maybe examples on top of your head? Look, I think there's definitely a push at the moment for responsible gambling. So think what we are seeing is that given the fact that it is a really young continent, I think there's definitely the balance, I suppose, between being responsible in terms of educating young people in terms of gaming, but also then attracting people who do want to gamble, especially obviously from a regulatory perspective, I guess, rather have the regulated operators attracting those players rather than the grey and black markets, which is obviously still prevalent in Africa. yeah, I think when it comes to statistics, I'm not sure that I'd be the right person to answer that kind of question, but I definitely think that it's still a continent that is lacking in education when it comes to gambling and betting. And so I think there's still things we can do, strides that we can do. And I think that's why we need to be inclusive. Africa needs to be included on the world stage because we learn and grow by sharing information. So it's really important that we are seen on the world stage so that we can also share and grow with other continents at the same kind of rate, I suppose. How do you believe that operators can reach out to those women who are spending so much of their time working and worried about being, again, the breadwinners of their households? instead of just pushing them aside as players? Yeah, I mean, look, again, I'm probably not the best person to ask that question on, but I would imagine just looking at ways to, you know, ways to bring those players in that will be attractive to women. whether that's from a content perspective, again, actually thinking about it now, I think I have seen Hollywood recently, Hollywood Bets in South Africa recently do a marketing campaign that was specifically aimed at attracting, you know, young women. So I suppose it's about the operators thinking about how they can attract those women and where are the best places to kind of attract them in from. So I can imagine that it's still in its infancy. I mean, I'm not suggesting we need to go and get a pink casino opening up, but I guess just making it more accessible and understanding that women also love sports. I mean, we've got plenty of women, including, I think we've got one Paralympian medal holder inside our women in gaming Africa. community, well as having several e-sports, really well known e-sports players across the continent that are of our community. there are women working and playing in sports. I guess it's just about seeing that market and realizing that actually there's an upside to bringing more women in. you know, many initiatives and not only women's Maya Yen can risk becoming symbolic rather than structural. And how do you ensure that women in gaming in Africa, your organization that you created from the ground? can create work that is measurable, but also capable of changing the dynamics of equality in the industry. Yeah, I mean, look, good question. Obviously, we're in our infancy, I suppose, because, you know, it's only really been going for two years and we only had our first sort of official event 18 months ago. But I mean, to say it's immeasurable would be an understatement, I guess, because I can already see the tangible benefits of bringing women together. I think the biggest thing that we're doing is bringing women from across borders. think the one thing that maybe the rest of the world maybe doesn't know so much is that it's incredibly difficult for not just women, but Africans in general to travel to conferences. know, the cost of traveling to conferences, the visas. I mean, I don't think there's many African nations that don't need a visa to enter Europe and the process can be quite long and laborious and difficult and expensive. So one of the things that I noticed is that When women come together, we can make really amazing things happen. But the borders were kind of forcing us to be apart, you know, because even if you look at the three major markets in Africa being Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, you know, there's still six or seven hours between them and sometimes not even direct flights. So it's not even that you can easily travel between them and, you know, maybe there's not that need to travel between them. I think it's about bringing the opportunity for women to connect with one another. mean, we have a WhatsApp community. I think we've got nearly 550 women in the WhatsApp community and there's several different channels. We've got mentorship and leadership. We've got a women in the spotlight channel. We've got like job opportunities. So there's lots of ways for people to network at different levels of the community. And obviously we've had events now in Nigeria, Kenya and several in South Africa. We have never had an international event. So this SBC partnership that's happening in September is we're breaking new ground. This is our first time sort of waking up and finding ourselves on a different continent. So I'm really, really excited to see how we can measure what more we can do by bringing the community into the international, onto the international stage. That is a great answer. Thank you, Louise. And I would actually like to take this time For a quick ad break, we'll be right back for the second half to talk a little bit more about women in gaming in Africa. We'll be right back. You mentioned that men are some of the biggest supporters of your initiative. And in your experience, what actually drives men to the place of allies? And what are they looking for when they reach out to you and they say that they want to be a part of it? Yeah, we have been incredibly lucky since the inception of Women in Gaming Africa and our first event. We've been so lucky to have so many amazing sponsors, many of them who have been men. And I've had so many conversations with, because of my other side of my business, because obviously Women in Gaming Africa is my side hustle, people that I come into contact with from an initiate perspective. when we talk about women in gaming Africa, many of the men are really supportive of what we're doing. They can see that there needs to be that bridge in the market for women in the industry. mean, make no mistake here that the African market in gaming is supported by 50 % women. So whilst there might not be lots of women in leadership roles right now, and I hope that does change, there are plenty of women working in the industry. So... I think that most men are supportive because majority of them will work alongside women or have women in their team or employ women. And I think that the best companies in my personal opinion are relevant of Africa are companies that have diverse workforces and that includes obviously representation of women. So, but yeah, I mean, look, one of the things we are doing with Women in Gaming Africa is inviting allies, friends and allies to events. which we did back in March when we had a brunch for allies and a networking drink for allies. This one that we're having here at SBC is for friends and allies. So we're really looking forward to inviting men from across the continent and outside of the continent who want to connect with people in Africa and we'll see it as a kind of central place for us to meet up in. So yeah, I can't say that I've had any bad experiences with men and women in gaming Africa. We've had so much support. And men have been reaching out. We've had several men reach out to want to be mentors, men that have wanted to reach out because they want to support and they don't want any publicity. So, you know, it's been really heartwarming to see how many men are actually behind us and supporting us as friends and allies. yeah. Before we wrap this up, we know that Women in Gaming Africa is working on some great, great experiences during the summit. Yeah. Can you please tell a bit, some spoilers or is it still a surprise? What can you share with us? Yeah, good question. obviously if anyone's ever been to any of my events, I really love throwing in some special things and just, you know, real African flavors. And the fact that this will be our first ever international event, we are definitely bringing the big guns. One thing I will tell you is that If any of you have ever visited South Africa or have ever even sampled some South African wines, you'll know that they are some of the best in the world, including the bubbles, which I think are some of the best in the world. So we will be bringing some South African bubbles, wines, so you'll get to taste all of the South African wines without having to go to South Africa. Although of course I want you to come. And the other little hint that I'm going to give you is maybe you should bring some shoes that you can dance in. those are the only two hints that I'm going to give you. Okay. It's good to know. I'm definitely bringing my most comfortable shoes. love to dance. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. So you guys already heard it. Please bring your comfortable shoes. Get ready for some bubbles and just enjoy the best time that you can have at SPC Summit alongside with women in gaming in Africa. You know, I could spend the whole day here talking to Lois about the African market and about women in gaming. However, we have to cut short today. However, you can spend some quality time listening about the African market during SBCS Summit. We're only a few weeks ahead of the event. So secure your tickets and we'll see each other there. Thank you very much, Louise. And thank you very much to our listeners. That will be all for today and we'll see each other in the next one. Thanks, Anna.