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By Alexis Akwagyiram and Didi Akinyelure

LAGOS, June 25 (Reuters) - Online sports betting is booming in soccer-mad Nigeria mainly thanks to payment systems established by homegrown technology firms that are starting to make online businesses more practical.
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For many years, mobile payments failed to remove in Nigeria as they have in nations such as Kenya, where Safaricom's M-Pesa money transfers have fostered a culture of cashless payments.

Fear of electronic fraud and sluggish web speeds have held Nigerian online consumers back however wagering firms states the brand-new, fast digital payment systems underpinning their sites are altering mindsets towards online deals.

"We have actually seen significant growth in the variety of payment services that are offered. All that is definitely altering the gaming space," stated Seun Anibaba, CEO of Lagos State Lotteries Board, video gaming regulator in Nigeria's commercial capital.

"The operators will go with whoever is faster, whoever can connect to their platform with less issues and problems," he stated, adding that taxes from sports betting in Lagos State rose 30 percent to 40 percent in 2017 from 2016.

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

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

With a young population of nearly 190 million, increasing smart phone use and falling data expenses, Nigeria has long been viewed as a terrific opportunity for online organizations - once consumers feel comfy with electronic payments.

Online gambling companies say that is taking place, though reaching the 10s of countless Nigerians without access to banking services stays a challenge for pure online sellers.

British online sports betting firm Betway opened its very first African business in Kenya in 2015, followed by Uganda, Ghana and South Africa. It introduced in Nigeria in January.

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

"The development in the variety of fintechs, and the government as an enabler, has assisted business to thrive. These technological shifts motivated Betway to begin operating in Nigeria," he stated.

FINTECH COMPETITION
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sports betting firms capitalizing the soccer frenzy whipped up by Nigeria's participation on the planet Cup say they are finding the payment systems developed by local startups such as Paystack are showing popular online.

Paystack and another local startup Flutterwave, both established in 2016, are offering competitors for Nigeria's Interswitch which was set up in 2002 and was the primary platform used by services operating in Nigeria.

"We added Paystack as one of our payment options without any fanfare, without revealing to our customers, and within a month it shot up to the number one most pre-owned payment choice on the website," said Akin Alabi, creator of NairabBET.

He stated NairaBET, the nation's 2nd biggest sports betting firm, now had 2 million regular customers on its website, up from 500,000 in 2013, and Paystack stayed the most popular payment alternative given that it was included in late 2017.
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Paystack was set up by two Nigerian computer science graduates, Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, who got early stage financing in Silicon Valley's Y-Combinator program.
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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, said 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 each and every single month," said Emmanuel Quartey, Paystack's head of growth.

He said an ecosystem of designers had emerged around Paystack, producing software to integrate the platform into websites. "We have actually seen a development in that neighborhood and they have actually carried us along," stated Quartey.

Paystack stated it allows payments for a number of sports betting firms but also a wide range of organizations, from utility services to carry business to insurance company Axa Mansard.

Flutterwave, co-founded by Nigerian entrepreneur Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, is likewise backed by the Y-Combinator program along with endeavor capitalists 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 actually accompanied the arrival of foreign financiers wanting to take advantage of sports betting wagering.

Industry experts say the sector generates about $1 billion a year and is most likely to grow faster than in South Africa and Kenya where business is more developed.

Russia's 1XBet and Slovakia's DOXXbet have actually both set up in Nigeria in the last two years while Italy's Goldbet was ahead of the trend, taking a half stake in market leader Bet9ja when the Nigerian firm launched in 2015.

NairaBET's Alabi stated its sales were divided in between shops and online but the ease of electronic payments, expense of running shops and capability for consumers to avoid the stigma of gaming in public indicated online transactions would grow.

But regardless of advances in digital payments, Kunle Soname - chairman and co-founder of Bet9ja - stated it was essential to have a store network, not least because many clients still remain reluctant to spend online.

He said the business, with about 60 percent of Nigeria's sports betting market, had a substantial network. Nigerian sports betting stores often act as social hubs where customers can enjoy soccer complimentary of charge while placing bets.

At a BetKing hall deep inside the bustling Oshodi market in Lagos, dozens of soccer fans collected to enjoy Nigeria's final heat up game before the World Cup.

Richard Onuka, a factory employee who earns 25,000 naira a month, was focused on a television screen inside. He said he started sports betting three months ago and bets approximately 1,000 naira a day.

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