Liliana Almeida, Clever Advertising: the Industry Has Awoken to African Sleeping Giant

In a recent dialogue with SBC News , Liliana A. , Head of Brand and Corporate Communications at Clever Advertising , discussed the company's longstanding presence in Africa and explored the continent's burgeoning potential in the gambling and sports betting sectors. Highlighting the crucial role of mobile technology and internet accessibility in propelling the industry forward, Almeida emphasized the importance of regulatory frameworks for sustained growth and market scalability. The conversation underscored Clever Advertising's commitment to leveraging technology and regulatory insights to enhance its market presence across Africa.

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Capitalising on untapped potential is a common theme throughout each passing year as many across the industry aim to gain a critical advantage in a range of emerging markets.

With this in mind, Liliana Almeida, Head of Brand and Corporate Communications at Clever Advertising, has been in discussion with SBC News to take a dive into the African continent.

In addition to elaborating on the group’s current standing and potential future targets, Almeida tackles what must happen for the region to maintain its current growth trajectory, challenges posed by alterations in regulation, and much more.

SBC News: Clever Advertising has held a presence within Africa for over a decade. To begin, could you elaborate on how you have seen the continent develop over the years?

Liliana Almeida: You could say that Africa has been something of a sleeping giant for several years, but the industry seems to have really woken up to the immense potential that the continent boasts for various critical reasons.

We see numerous companies across the gaming and sports betting landscape’s targeting one or a number of countries within the region, and central to this is the emergence of mobile technology, as well as a consistent rate of penetration.

As a result of this increasing uptake of smartphones, and subsequently, the internet, access to gambling platforms has become much more accessible for players across the region, heightening the possibilities and opportunities for the industry.

Subsequently, this also drives the payment process to become a much smoother and seamless experience, making it much easier for punters to deposit and withdraw from their selected platform.

SBCN: Related to this, what needs to happen to ensure a continued upswing in momentum? What major challenges remain, either specific to the continent or in a more generalised way, that must be addressed?

LA: More African countries need to establish regulations in the gambling industry. Furthermore, the high cost of internet access in many African countries also poses a barrier to the optimal performance of digital technologies in the gambling sector. This is an area that requires attention to enable more seamless online experiences for users.

In this landscape, Clever stands out with its strength and expertise in adapting to market requirements, whether technical or legal. Clever specializes in delivering bespoke solutions that drive first-time deposits effectively, showcasing its ability to navigate and thrive in diverse market environments.

SBCN: How could the regulation by more African countries contribute to increased competition, and more importantly, maturity and scalability?

LA: Similarly to what is being witnessed across other global jurisdictions, Africa is a region that is known for having its fair share of local affiliates.

Despite this, we at Clever take great pride in being the only international affiliate that actively operates in several markets across the region.

The key benefit for ourselves as a result of this is simply that having additional regulated markets helps us to scale and improve our market span.

Alternatively, witnessing an additional uplift in operators across African jurisdictions would enable us to reduce our traffic surplus and improve our overall performance.?

SBCN: Are there any particular nations that cause optimism when it comes to further potential success for Clever Advertising? Where do you expect the next opportunities to come from? And how do you best capitalise on these?

LA: We have enormous optimism for South Africa and Nigeria. Again, we are proud of the position we have been able to attain within these countries and have great belief in the market given the track record that it possesses and the performance we have been achieving.?

These countries boast a stable and immense gambling market, which allows us to work all of our acquisition channels in full force – in-app, influencers, and media buying – harnessing the power of multichannel campaigns.?

However, we also have a key ambition to continue working on swelling our presence in Portuguese-speaking countries, with Angola and Mozambique the key targets here. In addition, we are very aware of the potential of Kenya, Ghana, and Tanzania.?

SBCN: Regulatory developments are a common theme on a global scale. What difficulties are posed by fresh, or changes to, regulation? And how does Clever Advertising stay on top of such matters?

LA: To put this in its most basic format, for an operator to scale, they must have intricate knowledge of every market that they have entered or are targeting in the future, be that regulatory matters, payment processes, etc.

As for an affiliate, the challenges come in the form of advertising restrictions, bans, or best practices that are altered by technical partners, and impact our normal business operations.?

None of this is new, and it happens quite frequently in a global company such as Clever Advertising. To mitigate risk, we work with both internal and external legal and compliance teams that guide us on how and where we should be proceeding. We also work to stay ahead and deliver new and unique technical solutions.?

SBCN: In the short term, what developments within African markets can we expect to see from Clever Advertising?

LA: As previously mentioned, we are looking to solidify our presence across some of the longer-standing markets, while also keeping a close eye on possibilities to enhance our presence across some newer jurisdictions.

Our data tells us that our in-app traffic, with our bespoken ad formats, will be a game changer for mobile-heavy African markets, and our influencers’ channel will make a mark within the branding exposure and acquisition of our clients.

Interview produced and curated by Craig Davies and Liliana Almeida for SBC.

March 28, 2024