I came across a sports betting store in Kigali’s central business district, where young men were following a watching a football match in rapt attention as betting odds flashed on television screens mounted on the wall. With days to go for the Fifa 2018 World Cup, gambling fever in the city is at an all-time high. Betting on sports is a relatively new business in Rwanda with companies such as AfricaBets, Lucky Bets, and World Star Bets establishing a presence over the past few years. The growth of mobile money services, the expansion of satellite TV, internet penetration, the proliferation of smartphones, and access to tips via chatting groups on Whatsapp and Telegram has made betting on local and national teams along with international soccer leagues a multimillion-dollar-industry in Africa. Over the past few years countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have experienced a boom in gambling. But for those who participate, more than half of whom are below the age of 35, the compulsive nature of the sport has led to spiralling cycles of debt and even a rise in suicides. That might explain the sign on the door that’s reads, “Bet responsibly and only what you can afford.”
-Neha Thirani Bagri