Kenya has moved to restrict certain forms of gambling advertising and to ban completely other types of gambling adverts
Kenyan lawmakers have embarked on another mission to crack down on gambling, which is a booming industry in the African nation. This time around, the target of regulatory action are gambling adverts.
Kenya’s Interior Minister Fred Matiang’i announced Thursday that a number of new rules regarding the promotion of gaming and betting services in the country would be introduced. The fresh new regulations would take effect before the end of this month.
Under the new rules, gambling companies servicing Kenyan gamblers would be required to submit their ads for approval from the country’s gambling watchdog, the Betting Control and Licensing Board. In addition, adverts would not be permitted on television between 6 am and 10 pm.
Gambling operators will not be allowed to promote their services and products via social media. Celebrity endorsements of one operation or another will also be prohibited under the new gambling advertising code.
Another form of advertising that will, too, be banned in the African nation will be the outdoor promotion of gaming and betting products. It is yet to be clarified whether ads on sports betting shops’ windows count as outdoor advertising.
Kenya is not the only country to be cracking down on the gambling advertising sector. Italy implemented a blanket ban on gambling adverts early this year, while regulators and industry stakeholders in the UK and Sweden, among other regulated jurisdictions, are mulling a partial or full ban on ads promoting one gambling activity or another.
Crackdown on Gambling
Commenting on the latest restrictions, Kenya’s Interior Minister said earlier this week that “rogue behavior in the betting and lotteries industry” is putting the lives of the young into massive danger and that the “clean up” of the sector has just started. Mr. Matiang’i also promised that they will carry through the recently launched clampdown on gambling “no matter what it takes because young Kenyan lives are worth saving.”
According to the Interior Minister, Kenya has the highest rate of wagering youth across Africa. Stats show that approximately 76% of young people in Kenya are active bettors. Around 1 million people have been blacklisted by lenders for not being able to pay their gambling debts, Minister Matiang’i elaborated further.
The locally active gambling companies have up until June 30 to comply with the new restrictions. Failure to abide by the new regulatory regime would cost companies their business in the country, the Interior Minister said.
Kenya has a thriving KES200 million (approx. $2 billion) gambling industry. Lawmakers have been trying to place a number of restrictions on the sector over the past several years as it is targeting low-income gamblers. According to official data, more than a half of all local bettors are namely people who earn less than the country’s average.
The government of the African nation introduced a 35% tax on gambling revenue in the summer of 2017, but reduced the rate to 15% last year due to massive backlash from the industry. Lawmakers also brought back a highly contested tax on gambling winnings.
