Kenyans gamble daily in sports betting craze
Kenyan gamblers placed bets worth Sh463 million daily through Safaricom's M-Pesa platform in the financial year ended March 2022.
The total money spent on betting is more than enough to fund Kenya’s universal health coverage budget (Sh62.3 billion) and construct roads and bridges (Sh103.7 billion) in the financial year starting July
Safaricom revealed that there were 732.3 million betting transactions on M-Pesa in the review period, an increase of 39.3 per cent from 525.6 million in the period to March last year.
The proportion of the population that perceives betting as a source of income has also declined from 22.7 per cent in 2019 to 11.2 per cent in 2021, with the frequency of betting also falling.
Unemployment among the youth has also fueled gambling activities with critics saying the vice is growing at the expense of more productive activities.
The increased ‘sin’ of betting has also attracted the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Excise duty on betting is now 30 per cent which is spread to all gaming transactions including prize competitions and non-charitable lotteries.
