Africa is fast becoming a continent of sports bettors thanks to mobile devices.
African sports betting is surging among younger people.
The introduction of mobile devices in Africa helps fuel sports betting.
Not many protections for sports betting addiction are available in Africa.
LAS VEGAS – Sports betting in Africa has been surging in the last few years thanks to mobile devices.
Younger Africans Enjoy Sports Betting
Throughout the years, more Africans are being introduced to mobile devices thanks to mobile penetration. This means that mobile devices are being introduced in an area where they were not common before. As mobile devices become more available, it is the younger people in Africa that use them. This is likely due to the fact that Africa has the youngest population in the world.
African youths use mobile devices for various purposes. They use social media to stay connected and use mobile devices to conduct business. Lately, legal sports betting has become popular in Africa.
A recent article has shown that 54% of sub-Saharan African youths between 17 and 35 in Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana are betting on sports. In the same age group, 74% of people are betting on sports in Kenya alone. Thanks to the young population and the introduction of mobile betting, African sports betting is surging.
Digital television is also helping fuel the sports betting craze in Africa and other countries as well for that matter. Now more than ever, African youths can watch their favorite teams play their matches. This has increased the interest of young people in Africa to be more involved in the games they watch. Thanks to that, advertisers were able to tell people in Africa about sports betting.
But there is a downside to the surge of sports betting in Africa. Mobile devices and sports betting are still new to most countries in Africa. There is also the fact that the population that likes to bet is within a younger age group. Combine these two factors, and sports betting addiction starts becoming an issue.
There are not many protections that are put into place in Africa to help prevent this. There are also few services that can be contacted to help treat gaming addiction like in the US. As sports betting becomes more popular in Africa, this issue will likely increase. That is unless African governments step in and introduce protections to help treat gaming addiction in Africa.
News tags: Africa | Ghana | Kenya | mobile betting | Nigeria | South Africa | Uganda
Daniel is a writer that enjoys writing to inform readers. When Daniel was writing for The Borgen Project, he liked informing the world about victories in global poverty issues. Daniel is also an avid horse racing fan who has been going to the track with his father for over a decade betting the ponies. When he is not writing about sports betting or at the track, Daniel loves playing video games and watching sports in his spare time.