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Flutter-owned Sisal has continued its expansion into Africa by inking a contract with Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports (MDJS) to provide sports betting in Morocco.
MDJS is the sports-betting monopoly in the North African country, which is home to around 38m people. MDJS and Société de Gestion de la Loterie Nationale also offer lottery products in the country.
In 2018, Sisal won the lottery tender in Morocco announced by SGLN, the Moroccan national lottery management company, and in January 2019 Sisal Maroc was launched.
Sisal Jeux Maroc is a newly incorporated company, consisting of a joint venture between Sisal and Paddy Power, another of Flutter Entertainment's brands.
Sisal Jeux Maroc has now signed the agreement to operate games provided by MDJS for the next eight years, with the option to renew for an additional two years, according to a press release published by MDJS on February 8.
The latest deal “provides for the management and development of a product portfolio including fixed-odds sports betting and mutual betting. These games will be distributed by SISAL Jeux Maroc through a large network of points of sale and online,” according to the announcement.
This means Sisal currently has the right to operate both the sports betting and lottery monopoly in Morocco.
MDJS director general Younes El Mechrafi welcomed the new winner of the sports-betting tender and the agreement which “offers the National Fund for the Development of Sport (FNDS) growing resources”.
“This agreement marks a real quantum leap for the MDJS, and strengthens its position in a constantly evolving sector,” Mechrafi said.
The announcement comes just months after Sisal announced its expansion into another North African market by winning a similar contract to operate Promosport, a company under the supervision of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Tunisia.
It follows other major operators showing more of an interest in regulated African markets in recent months.
In October 2022, Itai Pazner, the former CEO of 888 Holdings, called Africa “a region with significant potential” as the online operator's joint venture with five high-profile gambling industry executives, 888AFRICA, delivered on its promise to launch in four markets before the end of 2022.
888AFRICA, which was founded in March 2022, has received local licences in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia.
Christopher Coyne, CEO of 888AFRICA, called the launches an “important milestone” that will provide the operator with “opportunities for further expansion in the future”.
