Sports Betting in Africa: A Major Contributing Factor to Poverty among Youths in Africa

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Photo Credit: iStock Images

 

One of the major decaying factors contributing to the poverty levels among young people in Africa is sports betting and gambling.

 

Sub-Saharan Africa is the largest gambling market in Africa, with South Africa leading the way. The country has a well-established gambling industry, with land-based casinos, sports betting shops, and online gambling sites. Other countries in the region, such as Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana, are also experiencing significant growth in their gambling markets. 

 

The overall gambling market including sports betting, online lottery and online casinos in Africa has generated a revenue of 1.62 billion USD with a projected growth of over 8% per year, making it one of the fastest-growing online industries on the continent with a growing number of over 27.5million subscribers. In Ghana, the total number of local lottery subscribers is over 6million out of the total population of estimated 34million people. The latest breaking news is ladies in universities and corporate organizations joining their male counterparts in sports betting. These companies are majorly owned by Western countries with few coming from Africa.

 

The question is, if 1.62billion leaves Africa in a form of income from betting for these Western betting companies, then how will Africa grow? 

 

Imagine some young people refused to employ their mental capacities and skills to earn more money for their prosperity due to gambling. Some will even do a little job and use their income on online betting. I know of a young man, who despite the advice I have given him, has ended up squandering over 2million on betting just this year and he has not won any. The addiction part of gambling and betting is the danger ⚡ we are facing now in Africa. 

 

In many sports centres, when you see young men watching games, it is not a reflection of their love for football but it is their love for sports betting. The shouts of goooooaaalllll is all about their staked bets of the day... Let me pause here. 

 

Dear African Youths, if you can save up monies you use everyday on betting and gambling and employ them into agriculture and entrepreneurship, technology and innovation, you can become a millionaire in no distant time.

 

I believe it is time for African Governments to implement policies and projects to give young people jobs rather than casting their hopes on sports betting and gambling making them lose significant portions of their daily incomes from petty jobs. 

 

It is time to build Africa and the youths must learn skills especially tech and vocational skills to empower their own prosperity. I want to offer an opportunity to every Africa Youth to learn tech skills at Innovative Digital Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA) with 50% scholarship on all our training courses. You can reach us on WhatsApp: +2349085392703 or +233530116151 for more details. John Kofi Annan Pan-Africanist and Global Tech Coach

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