Entain‘s sports betting platform bwin announced Thursday its launch in Zambia, marked by a ceremony held at Radisson Blu Hotel. This is the first African country in which the brand operates, which had also explored a potential launch in Keny.
bwin’s Africa Chief Marketing Officer Spencer Okach, spoke at the launch ceremony, stating the company is “thrilled” to enter the Zambian market, as it has “one of the most highly regarded regulatory environments on the African continent.”
“It was an obvious destination for our first launch in Africa given its stable economic and regulatory framework, which provides a great platform for growth,” he added. “We are extremely confident that our new Zambian customers will love the unparalleled bwin brand experience with its exciting line-up of thousands of betting markets and hundreds of games.”
Customers can now access bwin’s portfolio of sports betting and gaming products, through a “smooth gaming experience” as a result of a seamless interaction with the platform’s deposit and pay-out processes – “thanks to the integration of the services of local partners Airtel and MTN,” the company noted.
bwin also brings to Zambia its “brand story” that has seen it partner with some of the biggest competitions in the world of sports. bwin is the Official Partner of both the UEFA Europa League and Europa Conference Legue, as well as the Official Partner of the German Football Association and national team.
Okach highlighted bwin’s plans to work with the Ministry of Tourism, which regulates the betting and gaming industry. He claims the company has already identified areas where it can intervene in support of the tourism sector “through some of our assets that have global audiences, leveraging the assets of our partnership with UEFA to increase exposure for Zambia’s tourism sector,” reports Tech Trends.
“Together the UEFA Europa League and Europa Conference League have participants from more than 36 European countries and a global audience of millions,” the executive added.
Speaking at the launch, Zambian Minister of Tourism Rodney Sikumba welcomed bwin’s approach to partnering with the government to promote tourism. “One of my key roles is to create an environment for the economy to grow and thrive. We are excited to be working with a company of bwin’s calibre to promote the Zambian tourism sector building on their passion and connections to global football,” he said.
bwin will also build on the work of Entain Foundation, “with a commitment to make a positive impact on society by investing in responsible gambling and sustainability initiatives,” according to a press statement. “Through the Foundation, the Group has partnered with BetBlocker to bring their easy-to-use app to Zambia, helping customers manage their access to betting and gaming in a safe and appropriate manner.”
According to the company, bwin Zambia offers the most popular sports in Africa in its schedule. This includes online football betting, but also tennis betting, basketball betting and rugby betting “with a special focus on the engines (F1 and MotoGP).”
