Sports betting has grown in popularity across sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, with the rise of mobile money apps and online betting platforms making it even simpler for people to gamble.
But as betting companies reap profits in markets across the continent, researchers, psychologists and gambling support groups warn that the ease with which people can place bets is pushing many into life-altering debt and harming their mental health.
A recent study led by researchers in Ghana, Malawi and the UK found that governments across sub-Saharan Africa are failing to meet the challenges posed by rapid expansion of both betting shops and online gambling platforms. The team found that only two out of 41 countries they surveyed had published reports into the social and economic impacts of gambling.
Betting companies have invested heavily in advertising aimed at tempting people to gamble for a better future, prompting calls for tighter government regulation of the gambling industry. In countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa where there is high unemployment and a lack of secure job prospects, sports betting is increasingly viewed as a way to get money to make ends meet – or even generate life-changing income in the event of a big win. In some cases, users have placed online wagers using funds from third-party lending apps, trapping them in a debt spiral in the event of a losing bet.
In this episode of The Stream, we’ll look at the rise of sports betting in sub-Saharan Africa and its impact on individuals and families.
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It's not enough to push the responsibility to government regulation. The betting houses must take and accept the responsibility in destroying people's lives and should provide recourse for lives disrupted, ie. funding rehabilitation services.
In kenya it has been made mainstream due to poor regulations, advertisemes, and the fact that you can even bet with as low as 10ksh
9:13 coupled with our passion…
Aqui no Brasil escondem sinal de Deus e..O qual se opõe, e se levanta contra tudo o que se chama Deus, ou se adora; de sorte que se assentará, como Deus, no templo de Deus, querendo parecer Deus.
2 Tessalonicenses 2:4
Pls where did you get tis analysts? Asides the lady, other people are sounding like they are sharing their opinion and not of the organization they represent.
while I feel it leads to addiction, it is some people's hope.
Poverty and unemployment fuels it.
Gambling in Africa I need to get in on this.😂
My question is this,does someone forcepsul them to gamble? În uk as well there are a lot of gamblers,I never saw anyone beeing forced to play. Invest în education, people to learn what money actually is,TIMEof their life they waste,and they wont gamble.
What fuels gambling is accessibility. Not even poverty or unemployment
✋🏾my beautiful friend 🙎🏾♀️
Eesh! ,,Gambling 💔💔💔
Guess what, whiles more serious countries are looking into regulating how youths and GenZ enter into Gambling a country like Ghana rather put a 10% tax on winning tickets. In others words they want more numbers regardless of age.
Sbongile is talking nonsense.She sounds more like an advocate for gambling rather than a regulator for responsible gambling. Anyway gambling is a sport for the rich, and hope to the poor.
My Google ads while watching this episode , play rummy , dream 11 😂😂 me don't hope that i will gamble 😂😂
Betting companies need to set up rehabilitation centers, though this should be for funny my fear is that betting is addictive and has destroyed many lives in the process.
"Osaonetsa ntima onyanyala, ng'ambali…..kungani ina" this gives hope to many youths in Malawi
Can you tell everybody right now what are doing now?
Thank China. It's a grift on Africa to launder money and get a toe hold on land and politics.
That's great
This is really a serious issue at the moment in Nigeria where I come from.
Some of the company are fraudulent.
My younger brother won a jackpot on Western bet lotto worth over 75 million naira and the company never paid him till date for no reason.