Cola Group has announced its latest venture — a move into the growing Nigerian market with a new subsidiary brand, Cola.bet. The company already has a significant presence across sports betting’s African markets, including betting operations in Zambia, as well as in Kenya and Ethiopia in East Africa. Now, Cola is setting its sights on the West African region — in particular Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria.
Earlier this year, Cola Group was granted a license by the Lagos State Lotteries Board, permitting the establishment of a Nigerian subsidiary. Since then, Cola has been seeking investment for its latest venture, achieving $14.5 million worth of capital to get the new initiative off the ground.
An Increasingly International Profile
The company itself is licensed in Curacao, a Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela and a constituent country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. From this base, Cola Group has already established itself across Latin America and Europe, as well as a number of African markets.
Creating a sports gambling subsidiary in Nigeria represents a huge opportunity for the organization — with a population of 206.1 million, Nigeria offers huge potential for gambling providers. This is almost double the population of Africa’s next most populous nation, Ethiopia, where Cola already has a strong and growing presence.
The strategy appears to focus on a mobile-first approach. This involves achieving widespread integration with local payment providers in the Nigerian market, enabling connections with as broad a range of consumers as possible.
Providing a Range of Products and Services to the Nigerian Market
Dinu Bors, chief operating officer for Cola Group’s Nigerian operations, had this to say:
“Cola.bet delivers an exceptional customer-first experience, and the launch augments our global ambitions within the iGaming space.” This outlines how the organization plans to utilize a user-focused approach as it captures this lucrative market.
“We’ll be rolling out several innovative features over the coming months; we’re only just getting started.”
Dana Varnytska, Cola.bet’s chief marketing officer, expanded on this, offering some insight into how Cola has been able to tune its approach for success across a diverse array of different international markets. Varnytska discussed how comprehensive market research enabled Cola to understand the nuances of different markets and to identify player preferences that the company will leverage as part of its localized approach. This will include bonus promotions, as well as gambling odds that provide highly competitive returns for players.
Along with traditional sports betting, Cola Group’s Nigerian operations will include eSports and casino game products. The company also plans to work with other market partners in the region and beyond, offering licensing brokerage services to help other organizations gain a foothold in the Nigerian market. Establishing a sports gambling presence in Nigeria is certainly the latest step in the evolution of Cola Group, but it looks like it will not be the last, as the company targets an increasingly diverse array of markets and revenue streams.
