In Kenya, the allure of quick wealth through sports betting has ensnared many young people, particularly in a country where opportunities are scarce. With overall unemployment rates sitting at 12.7%, and youth unemployment at 67.0% as per Federation of Kenya employers, betting has become a false promise for those chasing stability. It’s actually a common scene seeing Kenyans working on bet slips in the dead of the night as they wait for Champions league fixtures to cast their nets.
The betting industry in Kenya is in a boom, courtesy of the increased mobile phone penetration and internet connectivity in the country. Ads run on various platforms promising instant riches, unknown to the unsuspecting victims that those are baits to financial ruins.
Economically, the toll of gambling is heavy. Geopoll surveys put Kenya as a leading gambling nation in Africa with 82.1 of the respondents admitting that they had at one time tried their hands at betting, to break the numbers 38.0 % were employed, 21.4 unemployed, 20.1 % were business owners and 19.3 % were students. Gaming is also valued at KES 200.0 billion annually rivalling the NSE, generating jobs and and tax revenue, yet it exacerbates poverty for many and threatens to hold back governments efforts in combating poverty and economic development, as evidenced when low income earners spend huge chunks of their incomes betting while starving essentials like food and education, with majority turning to debt. Businesses aren’t spared either, work place productivity declines and disposable incomes shrink.
The picture is grim, betting is proving to be costly, draining finances, pushing many into debt and in some instances costing lives. Businesses and jobs aren’t spared either, workplace productivity declines and incomes shrink. Kenyan youth must now redirect their finances and energies to real investments and not thrills with no tangible returns before it gets late. It’s never late anyway.
One of the opportunities that the youth can turn to is chamas, youths can pool as little as KES 50000 and invest in projects like agriculture and real estate which earn better returns than gambling. The youth groups can depend on government programs to offer low interest rates loans that can encourage entrepreneurship over gambling.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange can be another shift, youth can buy shares or join trusts building wealth overtime. This has been simplified by the availability of digital platforms like M-Akiba that blends accessibility with security enabling Kenyans to invest via mobile phones. The youth can also tap on financial literacy drives by financial institutions like Cytonn and KCB to reap the most from such ventures.
Kenyan youths can also leverage on their tech skills to invest in cryptocurrency by learning blockchain fundamentals and market analysis. They can also create trading bots, join credible online communities, learn and optimize their returns.
With the continued stories of gambling losses, we must yearn to create awareness against gambling and break the tight grip betting has on Kenyans in order to rewrite our financial futures
