online games
Banning iGaming in Nigeria would be a terrible decision and here’s why
Several opinions have been voiced in the Nigerian government that iGaming is a detriment to society and needs to be removed completely. The term iGaming consists of pretty much everything resembling online wagering. Things such as sports betting and online casino games are considered as iGaming and the Nigerian government wants to get rid of them ASAP.
The sentiment towards this industry is understandable. It’s basically like a sink for the funds which are already quite scarce for the Nigerian population. Having these operators claim the funds of the local population with promises to pay them back double or triple seems like a pyramid scheme, but in reality, it isn’t.
The industry is quite popular all over the world. Places like Europe, Asia, and even the heavily regulated Northern America thrive from iGaming but don’t ban it completely. Why? Because it’s nothing but an introduction to underground gaming rings and criminals.
Where the problem is more systematic
As of right now, the biggest iGaming problem for Nigerians is noticed in schools and universities, where students find illegal contractors and place bets on a specific sports match that will be happening anytime soon.
Due to the naturally high risk of sports, whose outcome is usually hard to predict, many students tend to lose a lot of money they simply don’t have, and therefore end up in debt. There have even been cases where students wagered money dedicated to their tuition and lost it all.
These are the cases that the Nigerian government emphasizes and they are completely warranted. Such activities need to be controlled, discouraged and most importantly banned, as long as the whole industry isn’t banned.
What could be the side effects of a ban?
Banning iGaming in Nigeria will not discourage all of the sports betting activity happening within schools and universities. As already mentioned above, most of it is happening through illegal contractors who simply have enough funds to pay out the winners and that’s it.
Now, Nigeria has over two dozen companies that operate in this industry. These companies pay taxes based on their profits and usually adhere to everything that is forced upon them from high above.
These companies are the representation of supply for iGaming. Currently, the demand already outpaces the supply as school and university students choose illegal contractors.
Should the already available supply be taken out of the equation through a nation-wide ban, it would incentivize even more illegal contractors to set up shop. Why? Because the demand is still there, nothing was done about it, it’s just the supply that was removed.
By placing a ban on iGaming, the government will essentially blind itself to the local situation by not having access to the data that registered companies gather, nor will they receive any kind of tax from the industry as it will all continue to operate underground.
What could possibly be the solution?
Several experts have said that introducing a maximum amount that a person can deposit every month could be the solution, but that’s exactly why people go for illegal contractors as they don’t have these artificial caps.
The best solution, for now, would be to regulate the industry under the government’s control. This means that private companies will have to close up shop and leave, and the government will replace them through SOE (State Owned Enterprises).
However, this needs to be undertaken in a very cautious manner, as other countries who currently have monopolies on gambling are starting to see their population combat them.
Such is the case in Finland, where a local casino news outlet NorskeCasino.casino reported that the local population is starting to see the monopoly on gaming as nothing but a cash grab from the government.
It’s extremely important that the ruling party goes about this very carefully as it can have very serious political ramifications. Any kind of gaming addiction case after this implementation would be blamed on them.
But why would this work?
Once the government has the industry firmly in their hands, they can very easily remove any and all caps on the maximum deposits. The SOE could not focus on profits, but much rather focus on self-sustainability, this means regular cashback, beneficial offers and overall support of the customer base.
The removal of the cap brings the illegal gamblers into the fold and adds even more income to the government, which can later be invested in agencies dedicated to fighting gambling addiction or just infrastructure and fighting poverty.
Overall, the added control the government will get over the industry should be a great temporary solution, but it won’t hold forever as displayed in Finland.
Sources for this article