Eastern Promise

How the rapid growth in Asian players changed the African casino scene

“When we opened in Dar es Salaam in 1997, the clientele was mainly Asian people from the Indian sub-continent, from the communities that have been in east Africa for many generations. The product mix at that time was 80-20 in favour of table games,” explains John A. Robbins of KaiRo International.

“I would say in about 2000 to 2001, we started seeing more Chinese people coming in, beyond just the local owners of businesses that we would see previously.

“The first group were mainly involved in agriculture. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they’d come into the casino and look around. Now in Africa there are many, many, wealthy people from East Asia—I would say mostly Mainland Chinese. I would estimate the number of Chinese and East Asians in Africa is in the high 30s of millions.

“As well as Chinese, there are also Korean and Japanese businessmen. I would say the mix is 70% East Asian. It’s our main source of business in Tanzania and in Ghana. We have built a room in our Ghana venue, the La Palm Casino in Accra, called the Saigon Lounge, with karaoke bars and a noodle bar and mainly slot machines,” adds Mr Robbins.

The biggest change heralded by the arrival of Mainland Chinese customers was a dramatic shift in the business model for sub-Saharan casinos, from live table games to slots, he explains.

“What we’ve found is that although they play the live games, the Chinese in Africa are really into the slot machines. The mix is now probably 70-30 in favour of slots.”

The reason, thinks Mr Robbins, is that Chinese business people travelling abroad are quite a sophisticated group who understand the good returns offered by slots.

“We offer returns to player of about 97%, because that’s the way we have promoted it and marketed it,” he states.

“The Chinese and other east Asian players understand the return to player available on slots. The popularity of slots is quite surprising though. From all research I’ve done in Macau, it’s very much a live game town.

“Having said that, we have the loosest machines in Africa. They’re even looser than the machines of the public gaming companies in southern Africa. The big companies have big volumes and they have a lot of day-trippers that come in to their venues. We actually work in cities that don’t have tourism.

“We have [slot] customers that come in every day. The way we have the machines set up is simply giving them longer playing time. If they win big jackpots, we’re quite comfortable with that,” explains Mr Robbins.

The company claims the New Africa Hotel and Casino in Dar es Salaam boasts the highest maximums available on gaming machines in the city and that this attracts a high calibre of player.

The casino offers 78 gaming machines including eight of Novomatic’s Super V+ Gaminators© linked to a Mega Mystery Jackpot reaching up to US$100,000. It also has other new video slots and video poker machines with three major linked progressive units the company says ensures constant player activity on the gaming floor. In the Malawi market, the company offers wide area progressives as well as other jackpots.

“I would say that in Africa the video slots and mystery jackpots are popular because they do work if you’re prepared to put your money into them,” says Mr Robbins.

“If, on the other hand, you go to these very new machines and sit there with one coin, you’re not going to do much. But if you go and max your play and have the bankroll to do it, they offer tremendous entertainment and tremendous wins.

“I talk to the guys who come in and they sit there, put the machines on automatic, they have their coffee and sandwiches and sit around and chat. It’s great entertainment for them,” states Mr Robbins.

Asian gamblers also love sports betting, and KaiRo International has tapped into that market by linking up with the online betting company Ladbrokes.com to offer sports betting at KaiRo’s venues in Accra, Ghana, and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

“The gaming boards are very flexible,” says Mr Robbins.

“If you come along and say ‘This is a new thing on the market’, as long as they can understand it and police it, they will generally say yes. Anything that is legal in South Africa is legal in our sub-Saharan markets, plus a few other products besides.”