Sports Betting Booms in Ghana

Lottery business is well patronised in Africa, with Ghana not an exception. Lottery kiosks are visible in various corners across the country. Weekly lottery results used to be shown on national television in times past; an indication of its popularity back then. It still is.

 

But a different kind of lottery is growing leaps and bounds in the country—sports betting. This is where sports fans wager or place a bet on the outcome of a sporting event with the payment of a small fee. If the odd bet comes through, one wins a bigger amount. They capitalize on the fans’ passion and love for European football like the English Premier League and other leagues around the globe. But the fans also place bets on other sports including boxing, rugby, tennis, NBA basketball and others. Many also offer virtual gaming for patrons.

Within the last few years, as much as five companies have invested to set up operations in the country. Their operations are legal and are regulated by the country’s Gaming Commission. They are well-patronised and successful to the extent that, they open more branched than mobile telecom or banks do. 

Premier Betting has operations in 27 other African countries and currently has 5 shops in Ghana and growing, a testament to the increasing popularity of the sports betting business in Africa. Speaking at the launch of their newest shop, the Operations Manager of Premier Solidere Ghana Limited, operators of Premier Betting, Tony Hill said “it is our belief that Ghana and Africa as a whole has tremendous potential for expansion of Premier Betting Solidere Ltd”

The shops are normally packed to capacity with young men especially on weekends and match days. Giant flat screens showing various sports events are a massive draw for fans. Bets can also be placed on the phone and via online channels. Betting shops are strategically located in densely populated areas of the city where large and mainly unemployed sports-loving fans can be found. 

 

It is these jobless youths that Africa Gaming and Entertainment Limited, operators of Safaribet, another of the betting companies, seeks to offer employment to. The company currently has 4 shops in the capital Accra and employs 140 people after six months of launching. Safaribet hopes to create 4,000 direct and 15,000 indirect jobs within the next three years to tackle the unemployment menace in Ghana.

Unemployment level currently is quite high. Additionally the company hopes to take the business to as many fans as possible through shops, franchise shops and online betting. 

Chief Executive of Safaribet Ghana, Halit Karabashoglu explained “also we want to partner with small businesses for franchising in order for them to grow and also employ others”.

Sports betting can also be used to raise the profile of domestic football leagues in Africa when they are included in the bouquet of sporting events that can be waged on, according to Kwaku Ohemeng Adjei, CEO of mybet.com. Mybet.com has been on the scene for about a year now but the success it has chalked in this short time in Accra has led firm to open branches in Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city.

The popularity of the local Ghana football league has waned and sports fans prefer to watch European matches every weekend instead.

But Mr Adjei is hoping to change that. “Since we came to the market, we have included the Ghanaian Leagues in it, so as to give it more of a local content”. Now we have bookmakers across the globe inquiring about the leagues, thinking that if we are taking bets on the local league, then there is credibility to the local league”, he says. The company is hoping to branch out and take bets on social events in the future such as political elections.

Mobile phone usage and specifically internet use is growing in the country. The mobile phone subscription rate is about 103% and increasingly more people are using smartphones, especially cheaper versions imported from China. 

In February this year Recognition Limited, launched a unique Mobile betting product called ‘Dreambet’ to tap into the growing internet use among consumers. It allows bets to be placed via a text messaging short code and it promises a much higher payout on winnings. It also aims to provide a better betting experience for sports betting lovers in the country. Another innovation from the same company is an innovative pool betting to establish a broad channel of ways to bet on football and win. 

South African company, Supabet is also active on the market.

Sports betting business offers employment, quick money for patrons, tax revenue for government and economic growth as a whole, but it is not without its critics.

Some believe that the quick money nature of betting, just like lottery is addictive, and will make many young people lazy and not seek productive means of getting employment. If not checked children can use the available channels like phone and online to partake without being detected.

The benefits of sports betting across Africa far outweigh the negative sides and it represents investments into Africa that governments have been seeking for.

So for now, let the betting machines roll on.

WEST AFRICA LEADS IN MARITIME PIRACY

The Hollywood movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" was well-received and it won many awards with its depiction of the criminals on the high seas. But in East and West Africa, the incidence of maritime piracy is no Hollywood fiction.

Somalia in the Gulf of Aden has become notorious for its vessel hijacks and ransom payments. News about hijacks off the coast of Somalia makes international news headlines. 

PIRACY NUMBERS
But according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the body that tracks data on the phenomenon, global piracy has reached a 5 year low. Cases off the coast of Somalia reduced in the first half of 2011. It fell from 163 to 69 year-on-year while hijackings also fell from 21 to 13. A confirmation that Somalian piracy has declined by 54% and continues to do so.

However while piracy off Somalia is declining, in the Gulf of Guinea on the West African coast it is rather on the increase.

 In an article titled "Managing the Global Response to Maritime Piracy", the Atlantic Council reports that in the in the first half of the year 2012, 34 attacks were reported in West African waters and 24 of which were successful. This is more than twice the number of attacks compared to the same period in 2011. The IMB's Piracy Reporting Center reports that in 2012 a total of 58 incidents were recorded in West Africa. This included 10 hijackings and 207 persons taken hostage.

The latest statistics released by the IMB shows that 966 sailors were attacked in West Africa in 2012, compared with 851 off the Somali coast. It has thus confirmed for the first time that West Africa now leads in maritime piracy on the continent.

The report, entitled The Human Cost of Maritime Piracy 2012, was released by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) project and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP).

James M. Bridger, a Maritime Security Consultant at US-based Drexel Systems Inc., disagrees that piracy in the Gulf of Guinea (GG) is on the rise in absolute terms as been reported. Bridger believes that data set from the Danish consultancy firm Risk Intelligence actually show a reduction in overall pirate attacks in GG. He says what is on the rise is a new trend of attacks on fuel tankers and vessels. 

Bridger believes there is a re-emergence of piracy because Somali pirates started only in 2007 whereas pirate attacks off Nigerian coast started in 2003.

WHY THE GULF OF GUINEA?
The region is home to huge hydrocarbon deposits. Almost 70% of Africa's oil production is concentrated in the region. The GG contains 50.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and according to the United States (US) Department of Energy, produces 5 million barrels per day annually. This partly explains why West Africa is one of the hottest regions in Africa for oil production.

This backdrop raises the region's geo-maritime trade importance. A busy trade route filled with fuel tankers and cargo ships.

A second reason for pirate attacks particularly in Nigeria is bad governance, according to Freedom Onuoha, a maritime expert and Research Fellow at the National Defence College in Abuja, Nigeria.

Onuoha notes that despite the GG's endowment of mineral wealth, it fares worst in global indices of human development. Countries in GG are still poor and the most affected are youths who remain unemployed and without skills.  At the same time, a few politicians and business tycoons enrich themselves from the oil wealth. This leads to discontented youths taking up of arms. Indeed many industry watchers believe that Nigerian piracy is seen as "political protests over perceived injustices by the oil industry".    

Poor resourcing of the navy and air force in West African countries mean they lack the personnel and resources to deal with piracy on their high seas.  Proliferation of small arms due to conflicts provides arms to fuel pirate attacks.

WHO ARE BEHIND PIRACY?
Experts agree that most of the pirates are from Nigeria or Nigeria-based. According to Seth Miah of Tema-based Amitlaw Professional Development Centre, "most [of the pirates] are military elites from the days of fighting in the Niger Delta. They have suddenly discovered new territories off the coast of Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana, territories which are evidently not prepared for the pirates and still at see on how to combat the menace".

 Onuoha explains that contrary to popular thinking that piracy on the continent emanated from Somalia, it actually began from 2003 in Nigeria's Delta region. It began when groups took up arms to fight and defend their communities from perceived exploitation. It was prevalent until the government literally bought them off with an amnesty in 2009. The dominant group among them the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) led the signing of the amnesty. However a faction of MEND rejected the amnesty. It is believed this break-away faction is responsible for this upsurge in piracy attacks. 

WHAT IS THEIR MODUS OPERANDI?
The mode of operation of GG pirates is different from what pertains in Somalia. In Somalian waters they hijack ships and kidnap sailors for ransom payment. In GG waters the main strategy is to attack oil tankers with refined oils whiles they are anchored at port or about to do so. The pirates then commandeer the hijacked vessel to a waiting ship, siphon off the oil and then release vessel. The stolen illegal oil is then sold on the black market as legal oil, thus finding its way back into the oil industry.

So whereas in East African piracy is for ransom payment, in West Africa is mainly for oil cargo.

The strategy of 'smash and grab' in GG means oil tankers are seized for an average of 10 days compared to 6 months in Somalian waters (during which time negotiations over ransom amount takes place), according to Onuoha.

In October 2012, pirates attacked a Greek oil tanker Orfeas with oil of 32,000 tons and anchored at the Abidjan port. The pirates controlled it via the coastlines of Ghana, Togo and Benin before arriving in Nigerian waters. Orfeas was released after 3 days when about 3,000 tons of gasoil was reportedly stolen from the tanker.  

Another group hijacked the Panamanian-flagged Itri in January 2012 in Ivorian waters, and was able to siphon off the ship's entire oil cargo with a valuation of about US$5 million.

The pirates are successful because they are well organised and resourced.  Confessions from captured pirates revealed that they are backed by a network of powerful Nigerian port officials and oil industry executives. These officials pass on intelligence information to pirates as to which vessel is docking where, the type of fuel cargo on board so that the pirates go after that specific target. After the oil cargo is stolen, its onward storage and distribution are equally coordinated by these corrupt officials in the background.

COST/IMPACT OF PIRACY
The global piracy enterprise is a very huge business. In monetary terms it is very rewarding for the pirates but a big loss to the global economy. According to US-based One Earth Future Foundation, in 2011 pirates made an income of US$160million through ransom and cargo theft while it cost $7billion to the global economy. GG countries lose a combined $2 billion annually to stolen cargo, insurance premium and on security, as quoted by Journalist Scott Baldauf.

Because GG produces 70% of Africa's oil, increasing pirate attacks on oil vessels can affect global oil prices, increasing the price for ordinary citizens.

SOLUTIONS
Despite the growing number of pirate attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea region, the 2012 IMB report indicated that "the area has not received the attention that was brought to Somalia".

The real solution to maritime piracy in the GG is to address the problems on land of poverty, youth unemployment and absent social infrastructure in oil producing regions. The lack of jobs and opportunities for young men from these communities, serves as an incentive for them to be recruited into pirate gangs.

West Africa needs to learn from the Somalia experience where piracy has reduced due to a US-led international anti- initiative. The daily patrol by coordinated international security vessels in Somalian waters has helped in the drop. Presently the US Navy's AFRICOM mission has been engaging in the training of navies of some GG nations and this need to be strengthened.

Ships using routes in GG can also ward of pirates by employing armed security guards on board those ships and also erecting barbed wire on ships to prevent pirates from climbing on-board.

States like Ghana and Togo have acquired naval patrol ships and other surveillance equipment to counter piracy and other illegal marine activities, but a recent development in Togolese waters calls for urgent joint multinational efforts.

The human and economic impact of piracy in West Africa is huge so countries need to work together to combat it.