Axom Gaming and 888AFRICA: capitalising on Africa’s greatest opportunities

We often hear of ‘the next big thing’ within iGaming. This often delivers a scramble for prime geographical position as numerous entities race for frontline positioning. In recent times, Africa has found itself at the centre of such a race. Axom Gaming is maintaining its quest for growth across the continent courtesy of what was billed as a ‘major partnership agreement’ with multi-market operator 888AFRICA, which has also found itself at the centre of acquisitive interest from GiG. In the following roundtable, Axom Gaming CRM consultant, Ali Craxton, and 888AFRICA Head of CRM, Kat Tarasenkova, discuss the reasonings behind the alliance, the performance witnessed thus far, how the unity will allow each party to achieve its ambitions across the region and much more. Could you talk us through how this partnership came about and what exactly it means for each party? Ali Craxton, Axom Gaming CRM consultant. Ali Craxton: It really started from a good fit between what 888Africa was trying to achieve and where we knew we could add value.We already had direct experience in a number of the African markets that 888Africa is operating in and looking to grow across, as well as experience with some of the game types that are particularly important in those markets, including crash games such as Aviator. That meant we understood both the opportunity and some of the nuances of player behaviour in those markets from the outset.One of the most important things for us was not to turn up and simply throw AI at the problem. We spent a lot of time understanding 888Africa’s business, their customers, the existing CRM setup and where they felt the biggest opportunities were. There were some really in-depth discussions around different customer types, player behaviour and the strategy they wanted to pursue.From there, the partnership became very practical. We aligned clearly on the strategy, particularly around maximising net lifetime revenue, made the integration as easy as possible and got to market quickly. That meant 888Africa could start seeing evidence of the value before making a much bigger long-term commitment. For 888Africa, Axom adds an AI-powered decisioning layer that helps determine the right action for each individual player. For us, it is a great opportunity to work closely with a strong operator and demonstrate what that approach can deliver at scale. Has any visible uplift in performance been evident thus far? If so, to what extent? Kat Tarasenkova: Yes. The performance so far has been exceptional and above our expectations. Across the first three months, the uplift in net gaming revenue progressed from approximately 2% in month one, to 7% in month two, and then to 18% in month three. Month three in particular was a remarkable result.For us, the most important part of that progression is that performance improved every month as Axom continued to learn more about the player base and improve the quality of the decisions being made. That is exactly what we would hope to see from this type of approach: the system gets better as the learning develops rather than delivering a one-off uplift and then plateauing.The speed to value was also important. One of the principles of the partnership was that 888Africa should be able to see genuine evidence that the approach works before making a significant long-term commitment, and we were able to demonstrate that relatively quickly.The other key point is that we are not looking at this as a one-off campaign result. The focus is on net lifetime revenue and continually improving the quality of the decisions being made across the player base. The ambition is for the performance achieved in month three to become the new baseline from which we continue to improve. Why was the decision made to align with Axom Gaming as opposed to other offerings on the market? KT: There were a few things that stood out.Firstly, Axom had direct experience in a number of the African markets that are important to us, as well as experience with key products and player behaviours in those markets, including Crash games such as Aviator. That gave us confidence that they understood the context of our business rather than approaching it as a generic CRM problem.Secondly, they made it very easy for us to test the proposition. The integration was deliberately kept simple and we were able to get to market quickly and see whether the approach could genuinely deliver value before making a much larger long-term commitment.But probably the biggest thing was the way they approached the relationship. The conversations were not simply about AI or models. Axom spent a lot of time understanding our business, our customers, our existing strategy and where we thought the opportunities were.We aligned very clearly around the objective of maximising net lifetime revenue, and it felt like a genuine partnership rather than a technology vendor coming in with a predefined solution. How will Axom Gaming aid 888Africa in enhancing its current offering and subsequently achieving its desired expansion ambitions? AC: 888Africa already has strong technology and a very capable team, so our role is really about helping them get more from what is already there.Axom helps decide, at an individual player level, which customers should receive which actions, communications or permitted rewards. That allows the existing CRM team and technology to operate much more intelligently without adding unnecessary complexity. Our experience in African markets is also important here. As 888Africa expands, every market has its own customer behaviours, economics and operating nuances. We also have experience with products such as crash games, including Aviator, which are particularly significant in a number of these markets. Having that practical knowledge alongside the technology means we can get to the right decisions more quickly rather than starting from scratch.The broader opportunity is scalability. As more markets and players are added, the number of decisions the CRM team needs to make grows dramatically. Axom allows that decision-making to scale without requiring manual resources to grow at the same rate. How will analysing players at an individual level help the company maximise lifetime value? AC: The simple answer is that players who look very similar on paper can behave very differently. Two customers can sit in the same segment, have similar value and similar recent activity, but one might need an incentive to stay active, another might respond perfectly well to a message, and another might not need anything at all.If you treat all three the same, you either miss revenue or spend money unnecessarily. By making those decisions at an individual level, and keeping the focus on net lifetime revenue rather than just short-term response rates, we can help 888Africa put investment where it is most likely to create incremental value.Over time, that should mean better player experiences, more efficient use of promotional spend and greater lifetime value across the player base. How do you believe that Axom Gaming will help 888Africa maximise the performance of your current tech to achieve desired growth across the continent? KT: We have already invested in strong technology and CRM capability, so the opportunity is not to replace that infrastructure but to make it work harder for us. Axom provides an additional decisioning layer that helps determine what the right next action is for each individual player, while our existing technology continues to execute those decisions.That becomes increasingly valuable as we grow across the continent. The number of players, markets and decisions increases quickly, and the challenge is maintaining the same level of intelligence and personalisation without creating huge amounts of additional manual work.The combination of Axom’s decisioning, their understanding of the African markets we are focused on, their experience with products that are important to those markets, and our existing technology gives us a much more scalable model for growth.The early results have been exceptional and give us real confidence in the approach, but equally important has been how easy the partnership has been to implement and how closely the teams have worked together on the strategy from the outset.