According to a recent article in Business Insider, the number of Nigeria’s mobile
phone users has exceeded 150 million this year, and the number of internet users has
also grown close to 100 million. At the same time, the decline in the prices of
smartphones has driven sales up. This, along with the increased access to “light”
applications like the games at All Slots casino or the data-light versions of
social networks, mobile browsers, and other services, make mobile use more alluring
to customers. As mobile data connections become more reliable and accessible to the
masses, access to services like online betting and gambling, and other, similar
services, becomes easier. With such ease of access, regulating these services
becomes a must.

Licenses and taxes

Offshore operators like the All Slots Casino can have unrestricted access to certain
jurisdictions’ markets if the laws governing gambling do not cover the online
variant of the service. And, since there are many countries that have gambling laws
introduced long before the emergence of online gambling (sometimes, even predating
the internet), these often fail to regulate iGaming at all. This means that locals
can access offshore gaming venues with no restriction, and said gaming venues can
offer their services to locals outside of the control of the authorities, and – most
importantly – without paying a cent in taxes to the state’s budget.

Statistics and control

A comprehensive regulation of the gambling market offers the government full control
over which companies can and which of them cannot offer their services to the
locals. This can be done by issuing licenses to those who apply for them and
restricting the access of those who don’t – a similar system has been introduced in
Romania last year. But the government gets something else from this deal:
information about how many of its residents play gambling games, and how many of
them are prone to gambling problems. These statistics can be helpful in evaluating
the issue and planning the appropriate measures to counteract it.

To the light

Where gambling isn’t regulated, numerous illegal activities tend to arise. Banning
such activities is not a solution – gambling is a lucrative business which makes it
worth it. When regulated gambling services become available, the majority of players
choose it instead of an eventual illegal or offshore variant – many people tend to
value stability, safety, and security over the eventual better odds offered by an
underground bookmaker or gambling operator. This reduces the incidence of illegal
gambling, and the revenues of certain criminal elements, contributing to the welfare
of society as a whole.