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One of the founding members of the ARGN is GamblePause Initiative Africa, founded by Ladipo Abiose Akolade.
Akolade said the ARGN was established to address the fragmented nature of responsible gambling efforts across Africa and create a platform for greater collaboration between organisations working in the space.
“ARGN was created because problem gambling is becoming a bigger issue across Africa and most responsible gambling efforts still happen within individual countries,” Akolade tells iGB. “While many organisations are doing great work, there has been limited opportunity to learn from each other, share research, or work together on common challenges.
How to play Cult
He also showcased a “Tom Cruise Scientology Starter Kit,” featuring a tiny spring-loaded couch so he could reenact the famous Oprah moment.
Throughout the performance, he skewered himself. With the confidence of a headliner who understood his public perception and chose to weaponize it, he held up a Wendy’s sign with a hole cut through the center, poked his face through, and announced: “This is what I look like when I’m trying to get recognized.”
The laughter was not polite or ironic. It was the roar of an audience genuinely doubling over.
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The report singled out several marketing tactics which had been flagged as particuarly concerning.
The first was direct marketing (emails, texts, push notifications). Citing randomised studies, the committee noted that limiting direct marketing resulted in reduced betting and fewer short-term harms.
Referencing an Australian study on direct marketing and its link to gambling harms, Dr Philip Newall, senior lecturer at the University of Bristol noted that “causality was established by getting a random subset of participants to opt-out of receiving direct marketing offers”.
