Sports betting slowly destroying Uganda’s youth
By Correspondent
The Ugandan health official was so sure Argentina would win its World Cup soccer match against Saudi Arabia that he went into sports betting; gambled $1,800 advanced to him by authorities as allowances for 243 people who had participated in a polio immunization campaign.
Argentina lost, and the official was in trouble. Later he was chased by an angry crowd, locked himself indoors for days, and now faces consequences that include the possible loss of his job, according to his supervisor.
In at least five African countries, gamblers and experts said that many see the growing sports betting industry as a source of regular income, and a possible path out of poverty. Critics warn that sports betting in Africa is underpinned by widespread poverty, unemployment and poor or non-existent regulation.
In Uganda, an East African country where annual income per capita was $840 in 2020, sports gamblers range from students to politicians, night watchmen to civil servants like the hapless health official who now is being asked to refund money he doesn’t have.
“First he said he had taken a loan and the money had been intercepted. But I knew he was lying and kept asking him to tell me what exactly had happened. He broke down and said, ‘Doctor, I have to tell you the truth. I bet the money on Argentina,’” said Mark Bramali, the top health officer in the district of Zombo.
Continent-wide data on sports betting is not readily available, but snapshots from different countries show its growing popularity. Online gaming platforms have enjoyed recent growth, driven by widening adoption of mobile payments and pandemic-era demand for digital entertainment. Much of the betting focuses on soccer games in Europe.
A South African government survey from 2017, the most recent on gambling, found that sports betting grew 14% per year from 2008 to 2016, even as the number of South Africans who gambled fell from 57% to a third of the country’s adult population.
Today, online sports betting makes up 45% of the South African gambling market, “a starkly different picture to just 10 years ago when casinos held 80% of market share,” said the National Gambling Board.
Sibongile Simelane-Quntana, executive director of the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation, said that her group has seen “significant growth” in online sports betting in the aftermath of pandemic-related lockdowns. Funding for her group, which comes from gambling houses, “has increased by 50% from where it was before the lockdown,” she said.
In Uganda’s capital, Kampala, one Fortebet shop is often full of gamblers, including some who spend the whole day sitting with pen and paper, ticking off the games that go their way. A World Cup promotion encourages punters to bet at least $0.8 every day until the day of the final in order to earn a share of online “betting points,” manager David Mugisa said.