Gaming technology company Nazara Technologies Ltd is looking to enter the ‘real money’ gaming market by setting up a new entity in Kenya.

The new entity, called NZWorld Kenya Ltd (NZWorld), will be a subsidiary of Nazara India, with the company holding a 70 per cent stake. The rest will be held by a local partner in Kenya.

In real money gaming, users put in real money to play. There are of two types — games of skill (where users put in cash to buy games or upgrade to higher levels) and games of chance (akin to gambling, where users put money to make more money).

Talking to BusinessLine , Nazara Technlogies’ CEO Manish Agarwal said: “Real money (game of chance) is not legal in India. It is a very big market in Africa and is the main reason why we are setting up a new entity in Kenya.” He added that real money gaming in Kenya is growing fast, with the market currently pegged at around ₹1,500 crore per month compared to the overall ₹1,000 crore online mobile gaming market in India.

Eye on other markets

Agarwal said the plan is to also tap markets such as Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana, among others on the continent, where there are clear regulations and a legal framework around such gaming licenses.

NZ World, in partnership with Nazara, has secured a betting license from the Betting Control Board of Kenya to operate certain products within the license and will launch sports betting, sports fantasy, sports arcade and a sports real money quiz, starting in June 2018.

comment COMMENT NOW