Axom Gaming and 888AFRICA: Capitalising on Africa's Greatest iGaming Opportunities

By jili tutorial · September 15, 2026

Axom Gaming and 888AFRICA: Capitalising on Africa’s Greatest iGaming Opportunities

The New Frontier: Why Africa Has Become iGaming’s Most Sought-After Market

The iGaming industry is no stranger to the phrase “the next big thing.” Historically, this declaration has triggered a feverish scramble for prime geographical positioning, with operators, suppliers, and technology providers all jockeying for front-row seats in emerging markets. In recent years, that spotlight has shifted decisively toward Africa—a continent of 1.4 billion people, rapidly increasing smartphone penetration, and a young, digitally native population with a growing appetite for online entertainment.

But Africa is not a single market. It is a patchwork of distinct regulatory environments, cultural preferences, payment ecosystems, and player behaviours. Success here demands more than simply replicating strategies that worked in Europe or Latin America. It requires localised knowledge, flexible technology, and a willingness to adapt quickly to on-the-ground realities.

At the centre of this race stands Axom Gaming, a CRM and player engagement specialist, and 888AFRICA, the multi-market operator that has been aggressively expanding its footprint across the continent. Their recent “major partnership agreement” has already generated significant industry buzz—not least because 888AFRICA has simultaneously attracted acquisitive interest from Gaming Innovation Group (GiG), signalling that the African market is entering a new phase of consolidation and sophistication.

In a wide-ranging roundtable discussion, Ali Craxton, CRM Consultant at Axom Gaming, and Kat Tarasenkova, Head of CRM at 888AFRICA, sat down to unpack the reasoning behind the alliance, the performance witnessed in its early months, and how this collaboration is enabling both parties to achieve their ambitions across the region.

Why This Partnership Makes Sense: The Genesis of the Axom–888AFRICA Alliance

A Meeting of Needs, Not Just a Meeting of Minds

Every successful B2B partnership in iGaming begins with alignment—not just on commercial terms, but on strategic intent, operational philosophy, and an honest assessment of what each side brings to the table. According to Ali Craxton, the Axom–888AFRICA relationship was no exception.

“It really started from a good fit between what 888Africa was trying to achieve and where we knew we could add value,” says Craxton. “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.”

This is a crucial point. Africa’s iGaming landscape is not simply a scaled-down version of more mature markets. Certain game verticals—particularly crash games like Aviator and Spribe’s other titles—have achieved extraordinary popularity across the continent. These games appeal to players who favour fast-paced, low-complexity, high-frequency betting experiences, often facilitated by mobile-first interfaces and instant withdrawal options. Understanding the behavioural nuances around these products is not a “nice to have”; it is essential for any operator hoping to achieve meaningful market share.

Avoiding the “AI Hype Trap”

One of the most refreshing aspects of this partnership, according to Craxton, is what Axom deliberately chose not to do.

“One of the most important things for us was not to turn up and simply throw AI at the problem,” she explains. “We spent a lot of time understanding 888Africa’s business, their customers, the existing CRM setup and where they felt the biggest opportunities were.”

This approach stands in contrast to a broader industry trend, where vendors often lead with flashy machine-learning buzzwords before fully understanding the client’s specific context. Axom’s philosophy was more grounded: start with deep discovery, hold extensive discussions around customer segmentation, player behaviour, and strategic objectives, and then build a practical, tailored solution.

The result was a clear alignment on strategy—particularly around maximising net lifetime revenue (NLTV) rather than short-term metrics like gross gaming revenue (GGR) or response rates. The integration was kept deliberately simple, allowing both teams to move quickly from signing to live deployment. This “speed to value” was not just a nice operational detail; it was a core principle designed to give 888AFRICA tangible evidence of the partnership’s worth before any deeper long-term commitment.

“For 888Africa, Axom adds an AI-powered decisioning layer that helps determine the right action for each individual player,” says Craxton. “For us, it is a great opportunity to work closely with a strong operator and demonstrate what that approach can deliver at scale.”

Early Performance: The Numbers Behind the Hype

From 2% to 18% in Three Months: A Trajectory of Continuous Improvement

One of the most common questions surrounding any new technology partnership is simple: Does it actually work? For 888AFRICA’s Kat Tarasenkova, the answer has been demonstrably yes—and the trajectory is perhaps more impressive than the headline figure itself.

“The performance so far has been exceptional and above our expectations,” Tarasenkova confirms. “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.”

The significance of month three’s 18% uplift cannot be overstated. But for Tarasenkova, the most encouraging aspect of this progression is not the peak itself—it is the consistency of improvement. Month-over-month growth suggests that the AI decisioning layer is not simply firing a static set of rules. Instead, it is learning: constantly refining its understanding of player behaviour, optimising communication frequency, fine-tuning reward offers, and adapting to shifting market conditions.

“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 Importance of Speed to Value

Another critical element was how quickly these results were achieved. Many CRM and AI-driven optimisation projects in iGaming take months of integration, data cleaning, and model training before delivering any measurable impact. By contrast, 888AFRICA and Axom managed to compress that timeline significantly.

“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,” says Tarasenkova. “And we were able to demonstrate that relatively quickly.”

This “try before you buy” model is becoming increasingly popular in the iGaming technology space, where operators—understandably wary of long, expensive implementations—demand proof of concept before signing multi-year deals.

A Baseline, Not a Ceiling

Perhaps most importantly, neither party views month three’s 18% uplift as the end of the journey. The target is to make that 18% the new baseline from which further improvements are measured.

“We are not looking at this as a one-off campaign result,” Tarasenkova emphasises. “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 Axom Gaming? The Selection Criteria That Set Them Apart

Domain Expertise in African Markets and Key Game Types

The vendor selection process in iGaming is rarely straightforward. When 888AFRICA was evaluating potential CRM and AI optimisation partners, several factors differentiated Axom from the competition.

“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,” says Tarasenkova. “That gave us confidence that they understood the context of our business rather than approaching it as a generic CRM problem.”

This contextual understanding is invaluable. An operator entering a new African market faces a steep learning curve: understanding local payment preferences (mobile money, bank transfer, or card), navigating regulatory reporting requirements, and tailoring bonus structures to resonate with culturally specific player motivations. A vendor that has already walked that path can accelerate the operator’s time-to-competence considerably.

A Low-Friction Testing Proposition

Another decisive factor was Axom’s willingness to make the initial trial as low-risk and low-complexity as possible.

“They made it very easy for us to test the proposition,” Tarasenkova explains. “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.”

This contrasts sharply with many enterprise-grade CRM solutions, which often require weeks of professional services, extensive API development, and bespoke data pipeline construction before any meaningful activity can begin. For a fast-moving operator like 888AFRICA, speed mattered.

A Genuine Partnership, Not a Vendor Relationship

Finally—and perhaps most critically—Tarasenkova highlights the philosophical alignment between the two teams.

“The conversations were not simply about AI or models,” she recalls. “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.”

This distinction between “partner” and “vendor” is more than semantics. In a true partnership, both parties share accountability for outcomes, communicate transparently about challenges, and iterate collaboratively on strategy. In a vendor relationship, the supplier delivers a product and the operator is left to make the best of it. 888AFRICA clearly values the former.

Enhancing the Existing Tech Stack: How Axom Complements, Not Replaces

Adding a Decisioning Layer to Existing Infrastructure

One common misconception about AI-powered CRM tools is that they require operators to rip out and replace their existing technology stack. The Axom approach is diametrically opposed to this. 888AFRICA has already invested heavily in its platform, data infrastructure, and CRM tooling. The opportunity, therefore, was not to displace that technology but to make it work smarter.

“888Africa already has strong technology and a very capable team,” says Craxton. “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.”

In practical terms, this means Axom sits above the existing CRM as an intelligent decisioning layer. It ingests player data, applies predictive models and optimisation algorithms, and outputs a recommended action for each individual player—whether that action is a specific bonus offer, a retention communication, a win/loss notification, or a VIP upgrade. The existing CRM then executes those actions through the channels and workflows already in place.

Localised Knowledge for Smarter Expansion

As 888AFRICA scales across the continent, the value of Axom’s localised experience becomes even more pronounced.

“As 888Africa expands, every market has its own customer behaviours, economics and operating nuances,” Craxton explains. “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.”

This is particularly important in African markets, where regulatory frameworks can differ dramatically between jurisdictions. For example, South Africa has a well-established and licensed sports betting market, while Nigeria’s regulatory environment is currently evolving rapidly. Markets like Kenya have faced periodic regulatory turbulence, including tax changes and licensing disputes. An AI model trained solely on European or North American player data would likely fail to account for these local disruptions. Axom’s models, by contrast, have been trained on African-specific data and continuously calibrated to reflect in-market realities.

Solving the Scalability Challenge Through Automation

One of the biggest operational hurdles for rapidly growing operators is decision fatigue. As a company expands into more markets, the volume and complexity of CRM decisions multiplies exponentially.

“The broader opportunity is scalability,” Craxton notes. “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.”

This is a critical commercial advantage. Hiring additional CRM managers, data analysts, and campaign marketers to manually manage each new market is neither cost-effective nor scalable. By automating the decisioning process, Axom enables 888AFRICA to grow its player base and market presence without proportionally increasing its operational headcount.

Individual-Level Player Analysis: The Path to Maximised Lifetime Value

Why “Same Segment” Players Are Not the Same

Traditional CRM strategies have long relied on segmentation: grouping players by shared characteristics (e.g., deposit frequency, game preference, lifetime value bracket) and then delivering identical campaigns to each group. Axom’s approach challenges this paradigm at its core.

“Players who look very similar on paper can behave very differently,” Craxton explains. “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.”

This insight is far from obvious but extraordinarily powerful. Consider three hypothetical players, all generating €200 in monthly deposits and playing Aviator:

Player A is highly engaged, playing five times per week, and is at risk of burnout. Sending a bonus might accelerate churn by encouraging more aggressive betting.
Player B is moderately engaged but has shown a pattern of depositing less after receiving email communications. A simple, non-monetary touchpoint—like a game recommendation—might be sufficient to maintain engagement.
Player C has stopped playing for 10 days and is showing early signs of churn. A targeted, time-sensitive welcome-back offer could re-ignite their interest.

A segment-level approach would likely send all three players the same bonus, resulting in wasted spend for Player A, unnecessary promotion for Player B, and perhaps an effective—but untargeted—win for Player C. Individual-level decisioning, by contrast, optimises the action for each player’s unique circumstances.

The Shift from Short-Term Response to Net Lifetime Revenue

Another major philosophical difference lies in the metric that drives optimisation. Many CRM teams measure success by response rate, click-through rate, or short-term deposit uplift. Axom’s focus is squarely on net lifetime revenue.

“By making those decisions at an individual level, and keeping the focus on net lifetime revenue rather than just short-term response rates,” says Craxton, “we can help 888Africa put investment where it is most likely to create incremental value.”

This distinction matters because it prevents the common pitfall of “buying” short-term revenue through aggressive bonus spend, only to discover that those players churn more quickly or become “bonus hunters” who extract value without generating sustainable profit. A net lifetime revenue framework optimises across the entire player journey—from first deposit through peak engagement and, ideally, many years of continued play.

The Ripple Effect: Better Player Experiences and Smarter Spend

When executed correctly, individual-level decisioning delivers benefits beyond the bottom line. Players receive communications and offers that genuinely match their preferences and needs, reducing annoyance and improving brand perception. Promotional budgets are deployed with surgical precision, minimising waste on players who would have engaged without incentives. And over time, the AI model becomes more accurate, creating a virtuous cycle of increasingly intelligent decisioning.

“Over time, that should mean better player experiences, more efficient use of promotional spend and greater lifetime value across the player base,” Craxton summarises.

The Road Ahead: Scaling Growth Across the Continent

A Model Built for Continental Ambition

888AFRICA’s ambitions across Africa are well documented. The operator has established a presence in multiple high-potential markets and continues to assess new jurisdictions as regulatory frameworks mature. For Tarasenkova, the Axom partnership is a key enabler of that growth.

“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,” she explains. “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.”

This modular approach to technology allows 888AFRICA to expand into new markets quickly, without reinventing its CRM architecture each time. The decisioning layer can be configured to account for market-specific variables—different game mixes, payment preferences, regulatory constraints, and cultural nuances—while reusing the underlying integration and workflows.

The Growing Complexity of Continental Operations

The operational challenges of running CRM across multiple African markets should not be underestimated. Consider just a few of the variables that differ between jurisdictions:

Regulatory reporting requirements: In some markets, bonuses and promotions must be pre-approved by the regulator; in others, they can be launched in real-time.
Payment ecosystems: Mobile money (M-Pesa in Kenya, MTN MoMo in Ghana, etc.) requires different handling than card or bank transfer payments.
Currency volatility: Markets like Nigeria have experienced significant Naira volatility, affecting promotional economics and deposit thresholds.
Player preferences: Crash games dominate in some markets, while sports betting or casino table games are more prominent in others.

“The number of players, markets and decisions increases quickly,” Tarasenkova acknowledges, “and the challenge is maintaining the same level of intelligence and personalisation without creating huge amounts of additional manual work.”

Axom’s AI-driven decisioning layer is designed to handle precisely this scale. By automating the “what should I do next for this player?” question, it frees up the 888AFRICA CRM team to focus on higher-level strategy, cross-market coordination, and creative campaign development.

Confidence in the Partnership

When asked about her overall assessment of the collaboration, Tarasenkova’s response is unequivocal:

“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.”

This dual emphasis on results and collaboration is telling. In the fast-moving African iGaming landscape, technical capability alone is insufficient. The ability to work as one integrated team, share learnings transparently, and adapt quickly to changing circumstances is what separates successful partnerships from those that fizzle out after an initial pilot.

Key Takeaways for the Broader iGaming Industry

While this partnership is specifically about Axom Gaming and 888AFRICA, the lessons it offers have broad applicability across the iGaming ecosystem:

Context matters more than algorithms: AI and machine learning are powerful tools, but they are only as effective as the contextual understanding behind them. Vendors that invest time in understanding local markets, player behaviours, and game-specific nuances deliver far better results than those that deploy generic models.
Speed to value is a competitive advantage: The “try before you buy” model—where operators can see measurable results within weeks rather than quarters—is likely to become the industry standard for CRM and player engagement technology.
Partnership, not vendor-ship: The most successful technology relationships are those where both parties share accountability for outcomes and work collaboratively on strategy. This requires a mindset shift on both sides.
NLTV beats short-term GGR: Measuring success by net lifetime revenue rather than immediate response rates drives smarter promotional spend, better player experiences, and more sustainable growth.
Scalability is the ultimate goal: As operators expand across multiple markets, the ability to maintain high-quality decisioning without proportionally increasing manual resources is essential. AI-powered decisioning layers are emerging as the key enabler.

Conclusion: Africa’s iGaming Boom Is Just Beginning

Africa represents one of the most exciting growth frontiers in global iGaming. Rising internet penetration, increasing smartphone adoption, and a young population with strong enthusiasm for betting and gaming create a fertile environment for operators willing to invest in localised strategies. The Axom–888AFRICA partnership demonstrates that meaningful, measurable improvements in player engagement and revenue are achievable—not through short-term promotional tactics, but through intelligent, individual-level decisioning powered by AI.

As 888AFRICA continues to expand across the continent, and as the broader industry watches with interest, the lessons learned from this collaboration will likely inform how other operators approach the African market. The combination of localised knowledge, flexible technology, and a genuine partnership ethos is proving to be a winning formula.

For Axom Gaming, the partnership is a testament to their ability to deliver tangible value at scale. For 888AFRICA, it is a strategic investment in sustainable growth. And for the wider market, it is a clear signal that the race for Africa’s iGaming opportunity is entering a new, more sophisticated phase.