Inside Velex Advisory’s Playbook for Compliant Gaming Industry

In Nigeria’s high-stakes gaming industry—a sector still grappling with regulatory chaos, underage gambling, and the presence of illegal operators—Velex Advisory has emerged as a professional service consortium dedicated to providing strategic advice to businesses in emerging technology markets, writes Iyke Bede 

With a 27-year track record, Velex Advisory, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), expanded into Nigeria in 2019. Since then, it has been providing business establishment advisory, general business support, and growth strategy for the country’s gaming sector. The firm has positioned itself as a key compliance partner in the industry, building a reputation for regulatory integrity and strategic foresight, helping gaming operators navigate Nigeria’s evolving legal landscape while fostering sustainable growth.

“When I joined Velex, it was already a compliance-focused company. The people I work with know the rules,” said Francis Masade, Managing Director of Velex Advisory, highlighting the firm’s deep-rooted compliance culture. This internal ethos extends outward, assisting clients in Nigeria’s gaming industry, which is often marked by regulatory noncompliance.

“There’s a mantra we always tell our clients,” Masade continued. “If the government says pay ₦1 million, it’s better to pay ₦500,000 and declare the outstanding balance rather than not pay at all.” He pointed out that, in some cases, certain rules are not strictly enforced at the initial stages. 

Outside of its advisory roles, Masade revealed that the firm takes a hands-on approach to ensure its clientele understands the consequences of failing to adhere to industry laws, noting that this approach has helped Velex Advisory maintain a pristine record of working only with compliant clients at both the federal and state levels of regulatory bodies. 

“In the last quarter, we conducted several anti-money laundering training sessions. Some clients have subscribed, but as with many Nigerian businesses, some try to cut corners and avoid operational costs, so they don’t comply,” Masade explained, detailing how some operators attempt to circumvent regulations to accrue more profit, ultimately shortening the industry’s sustainability.

He added, “The problem is that many clients fail to submit these reports. The funny thing is that EFCC has the legal right to enter any office at any time and request evidence. When companies fail to comply, that’s when it becomes an issue.

“In less than four years, some of the gaming companies we brought into Nigeria have made it into the Top 10 and are doing really well. Today, they have a full call centre with about 20 staff running morning and afternoon shifts. That’s success for us—seeing our clients being compliant.”

With a growing number of clients in the gaming industry, Velex Advisory boasts working with at least three of the top 10 performing gaming operators in Nigeria. The firm has helped these operators source licences, train staff—using its office as an incubator before their official launch—and expand into other African countries. This track record has also seen Velex play significant roles in providing ad-hoc services to its larger, well-established clients.

Last November, at the Oyo State Gaming Board’s Stakeholders Conference, Velex Advisory was recognised for its contributions to the gaming industry. While refraining from disclosing client names, Masade stated, “Three of our brands won very interesting awards: We have a brand that won the Most Compliant Casino Company Award. We have another brand that won for being the most innovative company, with a track record of supporting responsible gaming,” underscoring the impact of Velex Advisory.

With a presence in Kenya, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Ivory Coast, and Zambia, Velex Advisory covers strategic gaming and lottery markets across Sub-Saharan Africa, including East, West, Central, and Southern Africa. With its reach in these fast-developing markets, it has become an essential partner for international investors seeking to understand the African market and secure market share.

“We brand ourselves as the leading market entry company in Africa,” said Masade, describing the range of services it offers investors for expansion or market testing. “Once we have a client who says, ‘Oh, I want to start my setup in Kenya’, we don’t need to worry. We simply transition them to our Velex Kenyan team, and they handle the entire company registration process and everything in between. Some of our brands started here in Lagos, Nigeria, and from here, they expanded to Ghana, Cameroon, Liberia, Benin, and even Kenya.”

“If you’re a compliance company in a market where nobody follows the rules, it’s a tough situation. We’ve had issues where operators felt Velex should be blacklisted because we worked closely with regulators to develop compliance policies,” Masade stated per the issue of underage and irresponsible gambling, which has been partially unchecked due to the lack of stringent monitoring, and the activities of unlicensed operators.

These unlicensed operators often simply plug into payment gateways, make their URLs accessible to everyone, and show no sense of responsibility towards complying with the gaming regulation framework. This leads to losses not only for punters in terms of consumer protection but also for licensed operators and regulators due to revenue loss.

Velex Advisory proposes a model that will integrate all gaming platforms, ensuring that opting out becomes more efficient. Currently, the self-exclusion act is specific to each platform, leaving the punter with the option of moving to the next available platform. The feature is not yet across the board.

“We need collaboration between all gaming companies. When someone self-excludes from one platform, it should trigger the same action across all platforms,” stated Masade.

By and large, Velex Advisory has carved out a space in Nigeria’s gaming industry by sticking to compliance, even when it’s an uphill battle. Their work has helped operators grow without falling into regulatory traps, proving that playing by the rules isn’t just about avoiding penalties—it’s a long-term business strategy. As the industry shifts, Velex isn’t just keeping up; they’re making sure gaming operators don’t get left behind.