The growth in mobile money services has created new opportunities for merchants to sell their products and services in and outside Africa. One of these is the fast-growing betting sites which have taken a number of African countries by storm.
Speaking on Ntv’s amLive show on Tuesday Morning, former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale said it was a high time Kenya controls the betting addiction in order to protect the unsuspecting public.
“Matinag’i has done the right thing, we cannot create a country that is a national casino,” said Boni Khalwale
Betting is a primitive addiction to derail Africans. Betting Cannot be made a source of Income in this country because it makes the same population poorer.
I agree with @KBonimtetezi and @JakoyoMidiwo #AmLiveNTV
— BAD NEWS Analytica (@baDnewSanalysT) July 2, 2019
Khalwale’s sentiments were echoed by Jakoyo Midiwo saying that betting was currently being accessed by 10-year-old kids, observing that the country was heading in the wrong direction if no action was going to be taking.
“I congratulate Matiang’i. We ought to be socially responsible as a country.” he said
Betting on major European soccer leagues, as well as local and national teams, has become a multi-billion dollar industry with thousands of betting sites coming up each year especially in Africa.
The high rate of poverty and unemployment in the continent has forced many youths into gambling with some betting with thousands of money hoping to get a huge profit in return. This has however not been the reason since most of them end up wasting more and more money with no returns which have in turn crippled their financial advancements.
The combined size of the gambling industry in Kenya, Nigeria, and South African is projected to be worth $37 billion in 2018. In Kenya alone, a 2017 study found that two million individuals engage in mobile-based sports betting on a daily basis.
Many are falling for the trick that gambling creates employment opportunities, easy money for low-income earners, tax revenue for the government, and general economic growth. This has however been wrong since the government recently swang into action to curtail the rising rate of gambling in the country.
While giving threats to ban betting, Fred Matiang’i regretted that youths are not as productive as they spend most of their time “in bed betting”.
“We cannot be a gambling nation. We must live an honest life. Many youths end up frustrated when they fail in gambling and end up committing suicide”. he said