Already producing games with a focus on French-speaking markets in Africa, Honoré Gaming noted that the new office will help with expansion into English-speaking African countries as well as deploying retail and online technology in emerging markets.

The technology supplier also wishes to support brands as they launch in the region, helping provide localised and personalised content to players in each market.

A ceremony took place to mark the office’s opening with Honoré Gaming employees and members of the Lonase senior management team in attendance, the country’s national lottery operator.

Lonase CEO Lat Diop also gave a speech during the opening ceremony and there was a performance by Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour.

Christophe Casanova, COO at Honoré Gaming, commented: “We are delighted to open an office in Senegal as we continue to establish ourselves as the leading technology and platform provider in Africa. Senegal is a key market for us and our partners, so it’s great to have a presence in the country from where we can better support land-based and online operators.

“Africa has been a market of interest for a number of years now, but there is real momentum across the region with more and more brands wanting to get in on the action. Our platform and suite of solutions have been designed specifically for Africa, allowing operators to deploy sportsbook and casino experiences that not only meet but exceed player expectations.

“That we can now offer this from an office based in the heart of Senegal is a major milestone for Honoré Gaming and sets us up for continued success.”

Speaking to CasinoBeats last December, Casanova explained what growth opportunities are present for the technology supplier in Africa.

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That is the view of Christophe Casanova, COO at Honoré Gaming, which has persistently targeted expansion across this aforementioned continent during recent times.

Speaking to CasinoBeats towards the culmination of the year, Casanova delves into this African focus, where else the firm is keeping an eye on and just why the roadmap for the 12 months that lies ahead is “incredibly strong”.

CasinoBeats: Earlier in the year the African region was identified as a growth target by the company, what opportunities do you believe are presented by the continent?

Christophe Casanova: Honoré Gaming has always been dedicated to the African market and the incredible opportunities it presents to operators. Our focus has mostly been on French-speaking countries such as Congo, but over the past 12 months, we’ve expanded our presence into English-speaking African markets like Ethiopia or Nigeria.

Regardless of whether the market is French or English-speaking, Africa is a region with potential like no other. This is due to a combination of unique factors – the first is that people across the continent are obsessed with football, even more so than in Europe, and have an incredible appetite for betting.

What’s more, populations in African countries are getting bigger which increases the size of the addressable market in each. Some industry reports suggest that sportsbook operators active across Africa have enjoyed 20 per cent growth over the past 12 months while some of our operator partners have hit double that at 40 per cent growth year on year.   

CB: More specifically, which countries do you think pose the most potential? And why?

CC: There are several countries that always seem to be in the headlines including Ethiopia and Zambia as they are large markets with clear regulations in place. The thing is, these markets have already attracted some of the biggest betting brands in the business.

I’m not just talking about African brands like Betika, Hollywoodbets and BetKing, but international operators such as Entain and 888. That’s not to say operators can’t enter these markets and capture a decent share of wallet, but it requires a top-flight platform and a sizable branding budget.

Savvy operators with more limited resources should consider markets like Botswana and Namibia – the potential remains big, but the competition is less fierce. 

CB: Away from this continent, which regions further afield are being targeted by the group? And what advantages do you believe are posed by these?

CC: We are definitely keeping an eye on Latin America as the foundations and fundamentals of the region appear to be very similar to Africa. This is certainly the case from a technical point of view, with operators needing to run super lightweight platforms with intuitive front ends and low data if they are to deliver a seamless player experience.

As in Africa, this is due to less-advanced infrastructure, the prevalence and feature phones over smartphones, and the high cost of data for consumers. Of course, the worst mistake that an operator can make when launching in either Africa or Latin America is to use a platform that’s been developed for more established markets in Europe – we’ve seen countless brands do this in Africa and each time they’ve failed to gain any traction. 

CB: You have previously hailed the potential of loyalty schemes, why do you believe that these are so key to the retention strategies of operators?

CC: Given the competition for, and cost of, player acquisition, retention is mission-critical for operators, and this is absolutely the case in markets such as Africa and Latin America. The sheer number of consumers that operators can target and onboard in both regions means there’s the potential to significantly grow their player base.

Operators must keep hold of these players, and traditionally loyalty schemes have proved to be very effective at this. Of course, loyalty schemes need to be localised for specific markets and that’s exactly what we did with our loyalty programme for our African operators.

It takes into account the different number of line bets that Africans place on average (between seven and 10) and the day-to-day habits of players which is to want to interact with things in the here and now. That’s why our loyalty scheme is built around offering weekly and not monthly rewards. 

CB: As we head towards the end of the year, what can we expect from Honoré Gaming in the 12 months that lie ahead and beyond?

CC: Our product roadmap is incredibly strong for 2023 and will see us roll out some major platform updates. This includes the launch of light virtual sports titles in partnership with Kiron Interactive as well as a new CRM system for our operator partners.

We are also working on an affiliate product and will be offering fixed-odds betting on French horse races for the first time. We have a brand new version of our horse racing app in the final stages of development which will be made available for separate and commingled pool betting with French operator, PMU. All in all, it looks set to be a big year for Honoré Gaming and our operator partners.

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Under the terms of the agreement, NebirBet – one of Ethiopia’s newly emerging brands with a new betting feature, various gaming portfolios – will utilise Honoré’s omnichannel sports betting platform and virtual games. 

Christophe Casanova, COO at Honoré Gaming, said: “We are thrilled to have been chosen by NebirBet to power its omnichannel sportsbook and virtual games offering as it continues to improve the experience it offers to its players across retail and online.

“Our platform, technologies and services have been designed to allow operators to take total control of their sportsbook and run it how they want to. Of course, they can also leverage our years of experience and market understanding to get the most out of our solutions.

“NebirBet is undoubtedly a market leader in Ethiopia but with our platform and support, it will be able to further establish itself as the number one destination for sports betting in the country.”

NebirBet operates a number of betting shops across Ethiopia and in particular in cities such as Addis Abeba, Adama, Awassa, Asella and Debre Birhan.

Honoré Gaming is a provider of turnkey sportsbook solutions to operators targeting French-speaking countries across the African market.

Its omnichannel solution covers retail and online with a back-office where operators can manage all activity. Its platform is also fully customisable so that operators can ensure they meet the exact needs of players in the markets they target.

Biniyam Zeray, Deputy General Manager at NebirBet, added: “Honoré Gaming’s platform and suite of retail and online solutions are second to none, so this was an easy partnership for us to enter into.

“We look forward to leveraging all that its technologies and highly experienced team have to offer as we continue to work towards our goal of becoming the sportsbook brand of choice in Ethiopia – a goal we will certainly be able to achieve with Honoré Gaming.”

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The loyalty scheme takes the level-up format with players able to earn reward points for every bet they place – the higher the expected margin of the bet, the higher the number of reward points the player receives. Points can then be redeemed as cash or free bets.

Christophe Casanova, Chief Operating Officer at Honoré Gaming, said: “Operators are always looking for ways to retain players and reward them for their loyalty to their sportsbook or casino. Loyalty schemes have long been a powerful way of doing this, so we wanted to offer such a scheme to operators in African markets.

“The Honoré Loyalty Scheme has been designed to add an element of fun but also transparency with players able to see how many points they could receive from each of the bets they have placed. That these points can then be cashed in for free bets or free money adds huge value to their play.

“We can already see just how effective our loyalty scheme can be with the operator partners that have been running it for the past few months, so we look forward to rolling it out with our other partners and for them to be able to drive bet volumes while boosting retention rates.”

Honoré Loyalty Scheme consists of six levels in total, with the system designed to ensure that between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of active bettors will be able to reach at least one level of the scheme each month. 

Furthermore, players can see their current number of reward points, along with how many they need to advance to the next level. In addition, players can also see how many points they will be awarded on the active bets they have placed. 

The loyalty scheme has been live with a select number of African operators in markets such as Congo Brazzaville, Chad and Nigeria for three months and these operators have seen on average a 24 per cent increase in the number of bets per player per month.

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Following her appointment as CFO at Honoré, Bouctot has been tasked with developing and growing the technology provider’s financial department. This includes streamlining processes, undertaking monthly closing, monitoring costs and setting KPIs.

“It is a huge honour to join Honoré Gaming as CFO and to be given the responsibility of overseeing the company’s financial department,” she noted. 

“I am excited by the challenge of working within a new industry but believe my knowledge and experience put me in good stead to not only achieve but surpass the goals I have been set.”

Having worked as a financial controller for organisations across various industries, including automotive and energy sectors, Boycott joins Honoré from her previous role at Poulehouse, a non-tech food industry start-up where she held the same position. 

Christophe Casanova, Chief Operating Officer at Honoré Gaming, added: “We are thrilled to announce that Audrey has joined Honoré Gaming as Chief Financial Officer and for us to be able to leverage her experience in corporate finance as we continue to grow.

“That Audrey’s experience comes from outside of the sector is an added bonus, allowing us to take on board new perspectives and learnings from other industries and use this to help drive forwards with our own ambitious plans.

“I know that Audrey will be a key player in the direction we take the business and I look forward to working with her closely.”

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