Sharp Vision
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Gambling regulation · Data analytics · Financial monitoring |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Founder | Cyril Casanova and Christophe Casanova |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
Area served | Sub-Saharan Africa |
Key people | Laurent Grimaldi (CEO) · Anna Martins (VP Public Affairs) · Damien Raymond (COO) |
| Parent | Sportytote / Honoré Gaming |
| Website | https://sharpvision.fr/ |
Sharp Vision is a French technology and data-analytics company that develops platforms for gambling regulation, fiscal intelligence, and mobile-payment monitoring. Founded in 2022 in Paris, the company operates primarily in Africa, providing software and data services to state lotteries and regulatory bodies. Although Sharp Vision describes itself as a âresponsible-gaming and anti-fraud innovatorâ, it has been involved in several controversies.
History and structure
[edit]Sharp Vision was established in 2022 in Paris as a subsidiary of SAS Sportytote, the parent company of HonorĂ© Gaming, both co-founded by French entrepreneurs Cyril Casanova and Christophe Casanova. In 2023 Sportytote transferred its âregulatory-technologyâ branch to Sharp Vision through a partial asset contribution, formalizing the latter as the group's vehicle for compliance and state-monitoring contracts.[1] The company maintains offices in France, Benin, Guinea, Ghana and South Africa, with projects also reported in Senegal, Mali, Gabon and CĂŽte d'Ivoire.[2]
Operations
[edit]Sharp Vision markets three principal lines of services:
- Gambling-regulation monitoring â aggregation of betting data from licensed operators to assist governments in supervision and taxation;
- Behavioral-data analysis â algorithmic profiling of betting patterns, described by the company as a tool to âprevent gambling addiction and improve fiscal revenueâ;
- Mobile-payment oversight â an API platform connecting to mobile-money providers to flag suspicious transactions in line with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations.[3]
The company claims that its technology has enabled tax authorities in several African states to increase gambling-related revenue through automation and data analysis.[4]
Corporate structure and leadership
[edit]As of 2025 Sharp Vision lists 21 employees on LinkedIn. Chief Executive Officer Laurent Grimaldi is also a partner at the French investment firm Agila Growth, which invested âŹ30 million in Sportytote / HonorĂ© Gaming in 2023. Vice-president for Public Affairs Anna Martins previously served in several French ministries. Sharp Vision's founders, the Casanova brothers, remain majority shareholders through Sportytote SAS. The company reported profits of approximately âŹ5.7 million in 2023, all generated outside France.[5]
Business relationships
[edit]Sharp Vision, as a company selling regulatory and monitoring solutions for the gaming industry, maintains close operational links with its sister brand Honoré Gaming, which operates across betting markets in Africa. The companies share infrastructure, staff and developers. A 2023 financial statement showed significant receivables from the Senegalese technology firm Afitech SA, with which Sharp Vision concluded a multi-million-euro software-licensing agreement.[6] The company also lists the Senegalese lottery authority LONASE among its regulatory-technology partners.[7]
Controversies
[edit]LONASE partnership and procurement allegations
[edit]In 2023 Honoré Gaming, Sharp Vision's parent company, entered a partnership with Senegal's state lottery, the Loterie Nationale Sénégalaise (LONASE), to supply monitoring and data-collection systems.[8] The deal, signed by then-director-general Lat Diop, later drew criticism from Senegalese civil-society groups for having been awarded without competitive tendering and for favoring foreign companies.[9] Diop was subsequently charged with large-scale embezzlement unrelated to Sharp Vision, but commentators have questioned the due-diligence process behind the company's contract.[10] As of 2025, no legal action has been reported against Sharp Vision or Honoré Gaming themselves, but local press and online commentators have accused the firms of benefiting from non-transparent procurement mechanisms.[11]
Data-collection and privacy concerns
[edit]Sharp Vision executives have promoted the company's âAI-driven regulation of gamblingâ as an innovation that balances insight and player protection. Privacy advocates and media outlets have criticized this model, arguing that the company's mass collection of user data across multiple African countries constitutes a new form of âdigital colonialism.â[12] Observers have also questioned whether gamblers and national regulators have adequate oversight of where and how the data is stored or monetized.[13]
Relationship with Afitech and monopoly allegations
[edit]Sharp Vision's African partner Afitech SA has faced scrutiny for alleged monopoly conditions in Senegal's lottery-monitoring sector. In July 2025 the Agence de RĂ©gulation de la Commande Publique (ARCOP) rejected Afitech's appeal to block new entrants, confirming that LONASE could appoint an additional monitoring provider.[14] Investigative outlets have reported that Sharp Vision and Afitech share technical infrastructure and that Afitech reuses Sharp Vision's API libraries, though both companies describe the arrangement as a standard licensing agreement.[15] Critics have also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, alleging that Afitech both monitors and operates betting platforms under the same contract.[16]
Olofofo affair and press-freedom concerns
[edit]In June 2025 the Beninese investigative outlet Olofofo published a cover story portraying Sharp Vision as a âneo-colonial Trojan horseâ for France's state betting operator PMU, claiming the firm was advancing French commercial interests under the guise of regulatory reform. Two weeks later Olofofo's founder, journalist Hugues Comlan SossoukpĂš, was arrested in Benin after returning from exile.[17] While there is no evidence linking Sharp Vision or HonorĂ© Gaming to the arrest, advocacy groups noted the timing and warned of a chilling effect on investigative journalism about European corporate activity in West Africa.[18]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ RegTech in Francophone Africa 2024. Afrique Business Intelligence. 2024. ISBN 978-2-492830-11-4.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: checksum (help) - ^ "Sharp Vision expands African operations". Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ^ "Interview â Cyril Casanova on Responsible Gambling and AI" (in French). Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ^ "French RegTech says its platform triples betting revenue in Benin". Ecofin Agency. 28 February 2024.
- ^
- ^
- ^ "LONASE partners with Honoré Gaming for new regulation platform". Le Quotidien (Senegal). 14 June 2023.
- ^ "LONASE partners with Honoré Gaming for new regulation platform". Le Quotidien (Senegal). 14 June 2023.
- ^ "Collectif Jub Jubal Jubbanti denounces opaque LONASE contracts". SeneNews. 3 February 2025.
- ^ "Former LONASE chief Lat Diop charged with fraud". Jeune Afrique. 22 April 2024.
- ^ "Public tender controversies in Senegal's gaming sector". Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ^ "French firm accused of 'data colonialism' in African betting markets". The Guardian. 11 August 2024.
- ^ African Gambling Data Governance 2024 (Report). Privacy International. 2024.
- ^ "ARCOP rejects Afitech appeal in LONASE case". Le Moniteur du Commerce Sénégalais. 15 July 2025.
- ^
- ^ "Audit questions Afitech role in LONASE oversight". Sud Quotidien (Dakar). 2 August 2025.
- ^ "Benin journalist detained after criticising French gaming interests". Reporters Without Borders. 8 July 2025.
- ^ "RSF condemns arrest of Hugues SossoukpĂš". Retrieved 8 October 2025.