How Mobile Money and Football Betting Changed Kenya

26 October 2026

Kenya's betting landscape has transformed dramatically over the past decade, driven by the twin forces of mobile money and a youth obsession with sports betting. While legal since 1966, sports wagering remained a niche pursuit for much of that time. But the mid-2010s marked a pivotal shift, as mobile-based betting platforms took off, turning an occasional habit into a pervasive daily pastime for millions of Kenyans.

The catalyst for this betting boom was unquestionably the rise of mobile money, particularly Safaricom's ubiquitous M-Pesa. Launched in 2007, M-Pesa created seamless digital payment rails that allowed bettors to easily deposit and withdraw funds. By 2021, Safaricom reported around 30 million active M-Pesa users, roughly equivalent to Kenya's adult population, processing transactions worth about US$193 billion in 12 months—nearly twice Kenya's GDP.

This digital leap for mobile money was not just about betting. It also drove transformative financial inclusion across Kenya. Between 2006 and the mid-2010s, the share of adults with access to formal financial services rose from 27% to 84%. A 2016 MIT Technology Review study found that access to M-Pesa played a role in lifting 2% of Kenyan households out of extreme poverty. However, it created a paradox: the same technology that helped pull people out of poverty also made it easier than ever to lose a fortune on sports betting.

Sports fans aren't the only ones staking their earnings on big-stage sporting events. Kenya has long boasted some of Africa's strongest economic and technological credentials. The "Silicon Savannah" descriptor typically refers to Nairobi, Kenya's tech startup hub. In 2022, Kenya ranked 68 out of 211 countries in the Global Cybersecurity Index, and 22nd in mobile internet speeds. It also has a reputation for affordable internet—though not stellar broadband. "It’s cheap, but usually a pretty slow connection," Jacklyne Mwangi, a Nairobi-based entrepreneur, tells me over lunch. "But for most things we need to use the internet, it works fine."

However, Uganda and Tanzania lag substantially in all those categories, with 141st and 147th places in the Global Cybersecurity Index, 43.77 Mbps and 29.70 Mbps in mobile internet speeds, and a noticeably higher price point. "In those countries, a mobile internet plan in a major city will set you back around $20—a month's earnings for many residents," says Kenny Chikugye, a Kampala-based analyst covering east African tech startups.

Kenya's betting boom

Kenya's betting industry has also grown into one of Africa's biggest. In 2019, government sources estimated its value at over US$2 billion, with more than 25 licensed companies vying for customers. A 2016 FSD Kenya study estimated that by the mid-2010s, mobile sports bettors in Kenya likely exceeded 2.5 million people - over 10% of the adult population - across platforms like SportPesa and Betway.

More on this is available via how PesaLink works for betting deposits in Kenya.

By 2026, Kenyans wagered a record KSh 330.5 billion in a single year, exceeding the value of shares traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange during the same period. The government's decision in 2025 to cut the excise tax on betting deposits from 15% to 5% was widely credited with significantly increasing betting volumes. Despite the reduced tax rate, the Kenya Revenue Authority collected around KSh 16.5 billion in excise duty, beating its target by 15.9%.

The social costs

This data suggests an upward trajectory for Kenya's betting industry, but not all developments have been positive. There are troubling signs of addiction and financial recklessness. A 2016 FSD Kenya study found that many low and middle-income bettors typically staked around KSh 100 per bet, placing two or three bets on match days and incurring net weekly losses of KSh 300–400, sometimes at the expense of savings.

Psychologists in Kenya have identified multiple signs of gambling addiction, including chasing losses and hiding betting behavior. These issues have become more prevalent, thanks to mobile money and reliable mobile networks.

There's also a domino effect beyond individual financial decisions. A columnist covering financially precarious young adults in Nairobi shares concerning statistics.

"Young men reroute money through social media: impulsive spending, club nights and discounts on sports betting platforms," he writes. "It is taking a toll on them, their future, and their families, often in a system where they have no safety nets. Kenya's student loan program is weak. Our health care is unaffordable for someone entering the job market in their 20s with debt."