Safaricom Is At The Centre Of Kenya’s Regulation-Resistant Gambling Epidemic

Beginner's luck was on full display when Nelson Bwire tried his hand at betting for the first time. Not many manage to turn a USD 2.00 bet into a USD 48.00 payout on their first rodeo in Kenya’s ravenous gambling scene.

However, Bwire, who has now made it his life’s work to rein in the expanding gambling industry and reform locals dealing with gambling addiction, feels only sadness about that first day these days, however ecstatic it was at the time.

Bwire now thinks of that first win as sad, because it made him think that it was an easy way of life. He spent the next few months trying to replicate or top that initial dopamine rush that came with the first win.

That game-like thrill embedded inside an opportunity to make easy, quick money had him fully committed. And with a phone in hand within which sat a mobile wallet holding money, it was always easy to stay that way. Just as it is for many in Kenya.