This month DR Gaming Technology celebrates a decade of operation in Africa.
From humble beginnings in a small office in Midrand, South Africa, and a staff of three, the company has grown to a staff of almost 10 times that and now operates out of far larger premises comprising offices, an R&D development hub, a showroom and a warehouse in the heart of Sandton.
“SiP was our very first product when we started the business in March 2010,” said Charl Geyser, DRGT Africa's MD. “At that stage we had a few existing customers across the continent including Millionaire's Gaming Africa operating casinos in Ghana and Kenya and several others in Malawi and Zambia.
“In fact our very first installation was at the Prince Hotel in Ghana in April 2010 and I'm very proud to say that Joseph Pestana and his team at Millionaires are still one of our biggest clients today, with our most recent installation for Millionaires being an undertaking towards the end of last year at their newest casino in Nairobi.”
Geyser's gaming pedigree dates back to the mid-90s. In 2007, after 13 years’ service, he resigned from Aristocrat and dabbled in running his own pubs (with limited payout machines) for a couple of years, ultimately venturing back into gaming equipment distribution in 2010 when he took on the distribution of the then SiP systems product, which at the time was owned by WMS and purchased by DRGT in 2012.
Fortuitously, he also managed to secure an EGM distribution contract at almost he same time and was in desperate need of a jackpot service provider to meet a local Sun International tender opportunity. “In DRGT not only did I have a great jackpot solution, but in my view the most powerful, cost effective and user-friendly casino management system I had ever come across,” added Geyser.
Roll forward a decade and DUMA and it's follow-up wide-area progressive jackpot SunStriker continue to operate across all of Sun International's 12 southern African casinos on approximately 200 EGMs each, totalling to date over 6,000 jackpot hits and a payout total in excess of R750m.
“We could not have not have asked for a better partner than Charl when establishing our African footprint,” said DRGT CEO Jurgen De Munck. “Without him and his team we would never have made the inroads that we have.” At present the company operates its systems and jackpot technology on over 6,500 devices across 70 locations and in seven countries across Africa.
The growth the company has seen in Africa since March 2010 has been founded equally off of its quality and robust management systems and jackpot solutions, as well as its commitment to servicing and supporting its customers to the highest standards possible.
“We operate in the entertainment sector, where experiences drive loyalty and our product offering allows casino operators to do that. We in turn need to provide that self-same experience as a vendor to those operators and, although we're not perfect, I'm very proud of the manner in which the entire staff at DRGT Africa embrace that responsibility,” said Geyser.
With relatively new business partners in JSE-listed investment holding company Grand Parade Investments, DR Gaming Technology looks well positioned to leverage an even broader continental network, with a keen eye on expanding its footprint through DRGT Africa even further.
