By Alexis Akwagyiram and Didi Akinyelure

LAGOS, June 25 (Reuters) - Online sports betting wagering is flourishing in soccer-mad Nigeria mostly thanks to payment systems established by homegrown technology companies that are starting to make online organizations more practical.

For years, mobile payments stopped working to remove in Nigeria as they have in nations such as Kenya, where Safaricom's M-Pesa money transfers have actually promoted a culture of cashless payments.

Fear of electronic scams and slow web speeds have held Nigerian online consumers back but wagering companies states the new, fast digital payment systems underpinning their websites are altering mindsets towards online transactions.

"We have actually seen considerable development in the variety of payment options that are available. All that is absolutely altering the video gaming space," stated Seun Anibaba, CEO of Lagos State Lotteries Board, gaming regulator in Nigeria's industrial capital.
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"The operators will opt for whoever is quicker, whoever can link to their platform with less problems and glitches," he stated, adding that taxes from sports betting wagering in Lagos State rose 30 percent to 40 percent in 2017 from 2016.

That development has been matched by an increase in web payments, according to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), which is owned by the reserve bank and certified banks.

In 2016, there were 14 million web payments worth an overall 132 billion naira ($420 million). Transactions jumped to 29 million worth 185 billion in 2017 and in the very first quarter of 2018 there were nearly 10 million worth 61 billion.

With a young population of almost 190 million, increasing smart phone usage and falling information costs, Nigeria has long been seen as a terrific opportunity for online businesses - once customers feel comfy with electronic payments.

Online gaming companies state that is occurring, though reaching the 10s of countless Nigerians without access to banking services stays an obstacle for pure online sellers.
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British online sports betting firm Betway opened its first African organization in Kenya in 2015, followed by Uganda, Ghana and South Africa. It introduced in Nigeria in January.

"There is a gradual shift to online now, that is where the market is going," Betway's Nigeria supervisor Lere Awokoya said.

"The growth in the number of fintechs, and the government as an enabler, has assisted business to grow. These technological shifts encouraged Betway to begin operating in Nigeria," he said.
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FINTECH COMPETITION
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sports betting companies capitalizing the soccer craze whipped up by Nigeria's participation on the planet Cup say they are finding the payment systems created by regional startups such as Paystack are showing popular online.

Paystack and another regional startup Flutterwave, both founded in 2016, are providing competitors for Nigeria's Interswitch which was set up in 2002 and was the main platform utilized by businesses operating in Nigeria.

"We added Paystack as one of our payment alternatives without any fanfare, without announcing to our consumers, and within a month it soared to the number one most pre-owned payment choice on the website," said Akin Alabi, creator of NairabBET.

He stated NairaBET, the country's second greatest wagering firm, now had 2 million regular customers on its site, up from 500,000 in 2013, and Paystack remained the most popular payment option given that it was included late 2017.

Paystack was set up by two Nigerian computer system science graduates, Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, who got early phase funding in Silicon Valley's Y-Combinator programme.

In December 2016, it raised $1.3 million from financiers including China's Tencent and Comcast Ventures in the United States.

Paystack, based in the frenetic Ikeja district of Lagos, stated the number of month-to-month deals it processed increased from about 8,000 in early 2016 to more than 900,000 since June 2018.

"In early 2016 we were processing about $3,000 a month. Today we process well over $11 million every month," stated Emmanuel Quartey, Paystack's head of development.

He said an ecosystem of designers had emerged around Paystack, creating software to incorporate the platform into websites. "We have actually seen a development because community and they have brought us along," stated Quartey.

Paystack stated it makes it possible for payments for a number of wagering companies however likewise a broad variety of businesses, from energy services to transport business to insurer Axa Mansard.

Flutterwave, co-founded by Nigerian business owner Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, is likewise backed by the Y-Combinator programme along with investor Greycroft Partners and Green Visor Capital and the Omidyar Network. It raised $10 million in 2015.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

Shifts in Nigeria's payment culture have accompanied the arrival of foreign investors intending to take advantage of sports betting wagering.

Industry experts state the sector creates about $1 billion a year and is most likely to grow faster than in South Africa and Kenya where the organization is more established.

Russia's 1XBet and Slovakia's DOXXbet have both established in Nigeria in the last two years while Italy's Goldbet led the pattern, taking a 50 percent stake in market leader Bet9ja when the Nigerian company released in 2015.

stated its sales were divided between shops and online but the ease of electronic payments, expense of running stores and ability for customers to prevent the preconception of gaming in public meant online transactions would grow.
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But despite advances in digital payments, Kunle Soname - chairman and co-founder of Bet9ja - stated it was very important to have a shop network, not least due to the fact that numerous clients still remain reluctant to invest online.
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He stated the company, with about 60 percent of Nigeria's sports betting wagering market, had a comprehensive network. Nigerian wagering stores frequently function as social centers where clients can enjoy soccer complimentary of charge while placing bets.

At a BetKing hall deep inside the bustling Oshodi market in Lagos, lots of soccer fans gathered to view Nigeria's last heat up game before the World Cup.

Richard Onuka, a factory employee who earns 25,000 naira a month, was fixated on a television screen inside. He said he started gambling 3 months back and bets up to 1,000 naira a day.

"Since I have been playing I have actually not won anything however I think that a person day I will win," said Onuka. ($1 = 314.5000 naira) (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram and Didi Akinyelure in Lagos