Kenya Tops Sports Betting Market

Africa is considered one of the most lucrative markets by gambling operators and in recent years African countries have shown a strong tendency to gamble and place bets. Irish company Research and Markets projects that the global gaming market by 2022 will generate around $635 billion and Africa will play a key role.

Kenya Leads Sports Betting

A GeoPoll surveyed gamblers between 17 and 35-years-old in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania and found that Kenya is placing more sports bets than all other African nations. There are three main reasons why Kenya has seen an uptick in sports betting.

Millennial Gamblers

A GeoPoll survey done earlier this year revealed that African countries’ young consumers spend over half of their income on personal care items. In Sub-Saharan Africa, male millennials have higher gambling rates as they are massive sports fans and sports betting operators take advantage of this market bycarrying out aggressive marketing campaigns.

The report also revealed about 55% of the region’s youth has gambled one or more times. Most Kenyan youngsters also bet one or more times per week. Kenya has a very young gambling market which comprises more than 75 percent of the population.

Football Fever

The most popular betting sport in Africa is easily football. Nearly 80% of all wagers Kenyan youngsters place is on football matches. South Africa is the only African nation where football is not the number one sport. The 2018 FIFA World Cup boosted sports betting in Kenya significantly.

On-The-Go Gambling

In Africa mobile devices have become the most popular tool for placing sports bets. A sky-high 96% of all sports bets in Kenya are made on mobile phones. This figure is interesting since only about half of all gambling is done on devices like smartphones and tablets in other African countries.

Kenyans also spent more money on sports wagers than the other African nations. Sports betting operators will continue to target Kenya as they know the demand for sports betting will only continue to grow.