Population
Kenya has a population of around 50 million and it is predicted to double by 2050. Kenya’s population is one of the youngest in the world.
Political and Economic Outlook
Since attaining independence from British rule in 1963, Kenya had been one of few African exceptions to military coups and civil conflicts. However, during the 2007 presidential election, over one thousand people died and nearly 600,000 were displaced from their homes.
The August 2017 presidential elections were nullified by the Supreme Court, and a new presidential election was held in October 2017. President Uhuru Kenyattawas sworn in for a second and final five-year term the following month. Kenya expects a strong economic recovery this year. The economy is projected to grow by 6.1 per cent in 2021 after a 0.3 per cent contraction in 2020.
Sports Betting Regulation
Online and land-based sports betting is covered in The Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act and is regulated by the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB). Betting has been permitted as far back as 1966. Sports betting has grown in popularity, especially online. Legally sanctioned online sports betting was first offered in Kenya in 2013. There are around 30 sportsbooks and around 10,000 Kenyans are employed in the gambling industry overall. Like other jurisdictions such as Nigeria and Ghana, sports betting has risen
government concern growing over the expansion of gambling. In July 2019, the BCLB declined to renew the licences of 19 sports betting operators as it investigated ownership. In the same month Kenya’s Interior Ministry ordered the deportation of 17 foreign directors of betting firms.
In September 2019, Sportpesa and other leading sports betting company Betin left the market when lawmakers agreed to a 20 per cent tax on betting stakes. Sportpesa also cancelled its sports sponsorships in Kenya. At the time
2020 through amendments to the Finance Act to 7.5 per cent.
Sportpesa had already returned to the Kenyan market in October 2020 once the Finance Committee had blocked the tax rate, under the brand Milestone Games. This too was though controversial as after the BCLB ruled that its new licence holder did not have permission to use the SportPesa brand leading to a long drawn out battle in the courts. In addition The Treasury is now once again seeking to reintroduce the 20 per cent excise tax on betting.
in popularity due to the success of mobile money banking applications and increasing access to the Internet. It is estimated that in 2021, there were over 21 million active Internet users in Kenya so the country’s internet penetration rate stands at around 40 per cent.
Over the last three years sports betting has become an increasingly controversial issue with
SportPesa provided almost €5m in local sponsorship deals. Sportspesa’s global chief executive officer, Gerasim Nikolov, said that the company could no longer operate profitably under the new tax adding that it would stop its operations until a “non-hostile regulatory environment” had returned. The 20 per cent tax on betting stakes was introduced in 2019, but Parliament removed it in
Over the last three years sports betting has become an increasingly controversial issue with government concern growing over the expansion of gambling. In July 2019, the BCLB declined to renew the licences of 19 sports betting operators as it investigated ownership. In the same month Kenya’s Interior Ministry ordered the deportation of 17 foreign directors of betting firms.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P81
KENYA
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