Kenya takes lead among all the Sub Saharan African countries

Post Views: 764

Kenya takes lead among all the Sub Saharan African countries with the biggest number of Youth to engage in the mobile gambling with a percentage of 74% followed by Uganda which also has 57% of the youth also engaging in mobile gambling and Ghana has a least percentage of 42%.

A big number of Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are using their mobile phones to bet on football and are spending less than $50USD per month. Kenya has the highest number of betting youth , this is according to a recent rapid survey carried out among youth between the ages of 17-35 in Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

Based on a rapid survey conducted earlier this year, over 50% of earnings by youth consumers is spent on personal care. This is much higher than gambling. As noted in the report, gambling is becoming popular among male African Millennials in SSA due to their high affinity towards sports and the proliferation of local sports betting players.

As highlighted in the report, this is still a very nascent industry and in the survey on spending habits, only 3 percent of Youth consumers in SSA indicated that they spend part of their income on gambling.

In this deep dive report, we sought to further explore the effects of continued targeted marketing by betting companies towards this age group and get better insights into; exactly how much is spent, how frequently and on what, are the youth betting. Most youth (54%) in SSA have tried their hand at gambling. Kenya has the highest number of youth who have participated in gambling or betting in the past at 76% followed by Uganda at 57%. Ghana has the least number at 42%

The frequency of gambling is highest among Kenyans compared to their fellow Africans. Whilst the rest bet mostly once a month, a majority of Kenyans bet once a week. As sports betting is the most preferred. The fixtures for football matches especially the English premier league are over the weekends.

Mobile phones have become the African Las Vegas. Football betting and the popularity of English football leagues continue to grow in a symbiotic way with a growing youth population that continues to be defined by its uptake of technology. Although the stakes are not yet high, all the signs are there of a steady and unfettered domination of sports entertainment and gambling in sub-Saharan Africa.

NOTE: In South Africa, lotteries are a more preferred gambling choice compared to football, casino, racing and poker.