Kenyans Buys Smartphones To Bet, Ranked Top 3 In Africa

One of the reasons why Kenyans buy smartphones is to gamble.According to the Digital Skills Observatory, a research group funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and run by Mozilla, smartphone usage in Kenya seems to increase the amount of time people spend gambling.As the betting craze continues to escalate in Africa, more and more people find themselves believing that gambling can be away out of poverty.“Gambling provides them with a (false and risky) promise of better days,” the report reads.Kenya has been ranked third in betting after South Africa and Nigeria topping.In 2014 the betting industry in the country was estimated to generate Ksh1.8b (USD 17,692,591.23) annually with a projected growth that will see it top Ksh7.5b (USD73, 719,130.11) by 2018.In Uganda, betting is also quickly catching up as youths are getting addicted. Other African countries home to large populations of unemployed youth are also seeing an increase in gambling, especially sports betting.Similar to many African countries, Uganda’s population is young—of its 37.6 million citizens, 78% are below the age of 30.This demographic imbalance has left many youth jobless with more than 22% aged 15-24 unemployed, and an increasing number turning to gambling.Read the full report HERE