AGE: Three Years, One Venue, A Continental Gaming Statement

The Eko Hotel award is particularly interesting because of the word “Legacy.” AGE is only three years old. It cannot yet claim the kind of institutional history that Eko Hotel celebrated at its golden jubilee. But the recognition suggests that AGE is beginning to create a footprint large enough to be noticed outside the gaming industry, writes Nseobong Okon-Ekong 

An award presented at a golden anniversary celebration may ordinarily be dismissed as ceremonial. But when a three-year-old continental gaming platform is recognised alongside organisations that have contributed significantly to the 50-year commercial journey of one of Nigeria’s most iconic hospitality brands, there is more to the story than a trophy.

The Appreciation and Legacy Award presented to the Africa Gaming Expo (AGE) at the 50th anniversary celebration of Eko Hotel and Suites is, in many respects, a recognition of scale, patronage and influence.

It is also an indication of how quickly AGE has inserted itself into Lagos’ conference and events economy and, more importantly, into the evolving conversation about Africa’s gaming industry.

Since its inaugural edition in 2024, AGE has consistently made the Eko Hotel Convention Centre its home. Three editions, one venue and an increasingly international audience have created a relationship that extends well beyond the rental of a conference hall.

For one week during AGE, Eko Hotel becomes a meeting point for regulators, gaming operators, technology providers, investors, payment companies, industry associations and other stakeholders drawn from Nigeria, Africa and beyond.

Most of AGE’s international speakers, exhibitors, partners and delegates are also accommodated within the hotel.

The result is a commercial ecosystem in which the value of the expo is measured not only by the number of people attending its sessions, but by hotel rooms occupied, meals consumed, meetings held and hospitality services purchased.

That relationship was acknowledged when AGE was singled out for the Appreciation and Legacy Award during Eko Hotel’s golden jubilee celebration.

For an event in only its third year, the recognition is remarkable. For the organisers, it is also a challenge.

When Patronage Becomes Influence

The Chairman of Eko Hotel, William Chagoury, was generous in his appreciation of the hotel’s major patrons and partners, stressing the fundamental role such organisations play in sustaining the institution. The message was simple but powerful: a hotel of Eko’s stature cannot exist in isolation from the businesses, conferences and institutions that continually bring customers through its doors.

AGE has become one of those recurring business generators. The significance is amplified by the scale of the venue it occupies.

Eko Hotel Convention Centre is Nigeria’s only purpose-built meeting venue of its type and scale. Filling it with an audience drawn from across the African gaming ecosystem as well as other global gaming stakeholders is itself a statement about the growth of AGE.

But perhaps the more revealing statistic is what happens outside the conference room. A continental expo generates demand for accommodation, food and beverages, transportation, meetings and other services. International participants spend money in the city. Companies meet prospective clients and partners. Local businesses benefit from the influx.

In that sense, AGE is not simply using Lagos as a location. It is contributing to Lagos as a destination.

When Africa Gaming Expo (AGE), led by Charles Ekundayo, was launched in 2024, the ambition went beyond creating another industry exhibition. The objective was to build a continental platform around an industry undergoing profound transformation. Gaming in Africa is no longer merely about traditional lottery or betting operations.

It now encompasses digital technology, mobile platforms, payment systems, identity verification, artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, responsible gaming and increasingly sophisticated regulatory frameworks. The industry’s growth has consequently created a need for serious conversations about its future. AGE has sought to provide that forum.

Its collaboration with the Lagos State Lottery and Gaming Authority (LSLGA), under the leadership of Bashir Are, has added an important regulatory dimension to the platform. That collaboration is significant because the future of African gaming will not be determined by operators alone.

Regulators have a critical role in defining market rules. Technology companies are reshaping how products are delivered. Financial institutions influence payment infrastructure. Consumers are demanding greater protection. Governments are looking increasingly closely at taxation and economic contribution. All these interests need a meeting point, AGE is increasingly positioning itself as one.

Why Lagos? Why Nigeria?

This is where the expo’s strategic significance becomes clearer. Lagos already possesses many of the ingredients required to serve as a continental business hub: international connectivity, a large consumer market, financial institutions, technology companies, hospitality infrastructure and a deep pool of entrepreneurial talent.

But being a commercial capital is not enough.

Cities compete aggressively for international conferences, exhibitions and investment. Every major continental event that chooses Lagos strengthens the city’s credentials. Every international delegate who flies into the city creates an opportunity for the wider economy. Every foreign company that comes to Lagos and encounters the Nigerian market is presented with another reason to consider doing business here.

AGE is therefore doing something bigger than organising a gaming expo. It is helping to position Lagos as a gateway to Africa’s gaming economy. And Nigeria, by extension, gets an opportunity to present itself as a market capable of hosting serious continental conversations about an industry attracting increasing global attention.

The role of LSLGA in this story should not be understated. The regulator’s collaboration with AGE has provided an institutional bridge between the commercial interests of the gaming industry and the public policy questions surrounding its growth. For Are, the expo represents an opportunity for Lagos to engage international stakeholders while showcasing the state’s regulatory environment.

It also provides an avenue for the exchange of ideas around responsible gaming, consumer protection, technology and market development. This is increasingly important.

The next chapter of Africa’s gaming story cannot be written simply around gross gaming revenue or the number of operators. The industry will increasingly be judged by how responsibly it grows.

Questions around player protection, illegal gaming, technology, data, age restrictions, advertising, taxation and regulatory compliance are becoming inseparable from the industry’s commercial prospects.

A credible continental gaming platform must therefore be capable of accommodating both sides of the equation: growth and responsibility. AGE has an opportunity to occupy that space.

An Award at a Political Crossroads

The timing of the Eko Hotel recognition also gives it another layer of significance. The award came as Lagos approached another political transition, following the administration of Governor Babatunde Sanwo-Olu, with his deputy, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, widely viewed as a key figure in the state’s succession conversation. Both Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat attended the Eko Hotel 50th anniversary celebration, underscoring the importance attached to the landmark occasion.

For the gaming industry, the transition matters because regulatory stability and continuity are essential to long-term investment. The sector needs predictable policies, effective regulation and an environment in which legitimate businesses can plan beyond electoral cycles.

AGE’s development during the Sanwo-Olu years is therefore part of a broader Lagos narrative: the deliberate use of conferences, exhibitions, technology and private-sector partnerships to reinforce the state’s status as Nigeria’s principal commercial gateway. The challenge for the next administration will be to sustain that momentum.

Ekundayo: Recognition and Responsibility

For Ekundayo, the Eko Hotel award is not simply an occasion for celebration. It is an incentive to do more.

The recognition, he believes, should strengthen AGE’s determination to deliver an expo that meets global standards. That is a necessary ambition.

The African gaming industry is becoming more competitive, and several jurisdictions are positioning themselves to attract operators, technology companies, investors and international events. AGE cannot assume that Lagos’ position is guaranteed. It must earn it every year.

That means improving the quality of its content, attracting more international decision-makers, expanding African participation and creating conversations that produce tangible value beyond the duration of the exhibition. The expo must continually answer a fundamental question: Why does the African gaming industry need AGE? If the answer remains compelling, the event will continue to grow.

 The gaming industry has no shortage of commercial events. What it needs are institutions capable of shaping the conversation. AGE now has an opportunity to become such an institution. It can become the place where African regulators discuss the future of gaming with global counterparts; where operators discover new technology; where investors identify opportunities; where policymakers confront emerging challenges; and where responsible gaming is treated as a fundamental component of industry development rather than an afterthought.

That is a much bigger ambition than filling a convention centre.

For Eko Hotel, AGE represents a valuable recurring patron. For AGE, Eko Hotel provides a prestigious home and an international setting. For Lagos, the relationship demonstrates the economic value of attracting major continental events.

For Nigeria’s gaming industry, it represents something else: proof that a home-grown platform can attract international attention and command enough scale to be recognised alongside established institutions. And for Africa, perhaps the bigger question is whether Lagos can become the city from which the continent’s gaming future is increasingly debated and shaped.

The signs are encouraging. Three editions have been held. Three times, AGE has returned to the same venue. Three times, it has brought together a growing community of gaming stakeholders.

Now, after being recognised at Eko Hotel’s 50th anniversary, AGE has another milestone to pursue. The award may celebrate what has been achieved. But it also raises the standard for what comes next.

Eko Hotel has spent half a century building a legacy. AGE has spent three years building momentum. Its next challenge is to turn that momentum into an institution capable of giving Africa’s gaming industry a permanent voice—and ensuring that Lagos remains at the centre of the conversation.