Potential Up For Grabs
Actually, the entire quote was” “…there is a lot of potential up for grabs in Africa that many people in this industry could benefit from”. This was direct from Yudi Soetijiptadi who is the Project Director of Eventus International. It turns out the gentleman was talking about the Big Africa Summit which only just recently completed the 2014 event.
As you probably know, the Big Africa Summit is now an annual event that brings together sponsors, exhibitors, and interested parties to discuss and debate online gambling in South Africa. The 2014 event which took place from October 6 through October 8 was held in Johannesburg at the Emperors Palace Convention Centre.
This year’s event was much more upbeat as now it is clear that online gambling is on the way to South Africa. During the Summit, the focus was on how online gambling regulations will be developed, how the online lottery fits into the mix, the Africa gambling market in general as well as new online gambling opportunities. Also, a big topic this year turned out to be the latest gaming technology. As might be expected in an era of rapid technological change, the attendees wanted to learn about not only what’s available at the moment but also the new online casino technology that is being perfected right now.
The Summit began with a keynote address from Professor Linda de Vries from the University of the Western Cape. From there, the speakers and presenters ranged from economists to investment strategists and even the government agency that is responsible for the new online gambling rules and regulations. Actually, the presentation by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) proved to be one of the most interesting of all. Deputy Minister Geordin Hill-Lewis took the time to explain the current online casino legislation as well as presenting the Department’s Action Plan for online casino regulation. To his credit, the Deputy Minister was very accommodating to the audience, taking extra time to make sure that all the questions were answered.
All in all, it was a tremendous event. All attendees agreed that this years Big Africa Summit was the best summit ever. More importantly, the success of this year’s Summit is a sign that online gambling and online casinos are finally coming to the South Africa market. Online casino operators throughout the land are standing by to roll out their online casino action.