Nearly 70% of Kenyan adults gamble online according to a study by geopoll.com. Men aged between 24 and 35 years make up 77% of the country’s betting population.
Interestingly, online gaming in Kenya skyrocketed just a decade ago. Before then, it was nearly impossible to find a betting site in Kenya. How did the country turn into a betting nation? What challenges do Kenyans face while gambling online?
The Launch of SportPesa in 2013
Under the local, gambling has been legal since 1966. However, the laws only mentioned land-based casinos. In 2011, Kenya’s Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) launched a state-owned betting site to the surprise of many Kenyans.
The sportsbook hoped to make money by providing sports betting odds to tech-savvy Kenyans. Sadly, the site didn’t last long. In 2013, the BCLB licensed Kenya’s first privately-owned sportsbook—SportPesa—which rose to worldwide success within a year.
SportPesa captured Kenya’s betting population with its competitive odds, bonuses, and quick payouts. In a couple of years, SportPesa grew well enough that it became the official jersey sponsor of the EPL team, Everton.
By this time, more sportsbooks had entered the Kenyan market. However, SportPesa still reigned supreme.
A Wide Range of Payment Methods
One of the reasons mobile betting exploded in Kenya has everything to do with M-PESA. This mobile payment platform connects more than 10 million Kenyans.
Sending money through M-PESA is cheap, safe, and quick. What’s more, you can send as little as Ksh.5 ($0.05) to as much as Ksh.20,000 ($160)—the standard daily betting limit at many sportsbooks.
Beyond M-PESA, Kenyans can deposit money through Airtel Money, credit/debit cards, and lately—crypto. Kenya ranks amongst the top three nations with the biggest crypto adoption in Africa. The other two are South Africa and Nigeria.
The majority of Kenyans buy crypto for speculative reasons. They want to make money when bitcoin or Ethereum rises. Some people also use their crypto for betting online.
Unlike M-PESA, Bitcoin and Ethereum are not affected by geographical borders. You can crypto to deposit funds to Ethereum casinos regardless of where you live. Importantly, transacting through crypto is fast and cheap in all parts of the world.
Mobile Betting
Mobile betting is attributed to the success of sports betting. According to the Communication Authority of Kenya, 71% of Kenyans own smartphones. Many of them use their smartphones for communication, browsing the Internet, and making money.
Speaking of money, sports betting sites provide a chance to create income online. The money is not guaranteed. But to a lot of young, college-educated but unemployed Kenyans, sports betting offers a chance to create a source of income.
As already mentioned, there was a time Kenyans mostly used SportPesa for betting. This local bookmaker was the first sportsbook to offer mobile betting. Unfortunately, it has since been usurped from its position by newer betting companies.
SportPesa’s downfall came after the government accused the company of tax evasion. At one point, the company’s license was revoked. The bookmaker got its license back, but it’s yet to recover its dominance in the Kenyan market.
Challenges Facing Online Gambling in Kenya
Although online gambling has been growing rapidly in Kenya, it’s not without its challenges. Below are some of them:
High Gambling Taxes
When the BCLB first launched a government-owned betting site, Kenyans didn’t have to pay taxes on their winnings. These days, the government taxes both sportsbooks and gamblers.
Online gambling companies pay 15% of their income to the Kenya Revenue Authority as tax. On the other hand, gamblers pay 20% of their winnings to KRA as tax. Additionally, the Kenyan government taxes 7.5% of every bettor’s stake.
That means not only do you get taxed when you bet on a game, but you also pay more money to the government when you win. The taxes are a little bit too high for many Kenyans. Higher taxes also mean fewer customers for the sportsbooks.
Unreliable Operators
Another major challenge in the Kenyan betting scene is that not every betting site can be trusted. This is especially true for unlicensed companies. But it’s also becoming a problem for locally licensed sites.
See, the BCLB licenses any betting website that pays license fees and taxes. But it’s not as keen on protecting local bettors from sportsbooks that mistreat their customers.
This has led to a situation where Kenyan gamblers stake their money on betting sites and win, but they do not receive their winnings. To be clear, not every gambling site has a reputation problem.
So, research around to find a trustworthy operator before you place your first bet. Look beyond the license and website security checks. Read online reviews to discover what people think about a gambling site. Select a top-rated operator.
A Limited Number of Online Casinos
It’s true—Kenyans love to bet on sports. More than 60% of Kenyan gamblers wager on sports. Just 36% of the people say they play online casino games like slots, blackjack, and roulette.
The reason Kenyans aren’t so much into casino gaming is that there are not many licensed casinos in the country. Last year, a couple of sites got licensed by the BCLB to operate legally.
Kenyans are showing an interest in these gambling sites. They’re also betting through foreign crypto casinos as we mentioned earlier. However, the casino niche in Kenya may take more time to develop when compared to sports betting.
Bonuses and Odds
Kenyan betting companies are generous with bonuses. But these promotions aren’t always fair. Likewise, they offer odds to bet on almost every sport, especially football. Sadly, the odds are not as enticing as the odds offered by foreign bookmakers.
Some Kenyan bettors are slowly switching to better-managed offshore sportsbooks in search of improved services. And this should be a wake-up call for local sportsbooks with unfriendly services.
Bonuses should help players win more often. But if the odds are poor and the promotions have harsh terms and conditions, Kenyans may end up abandoning local betting sites in favor of foreign operators.
