Gambling is already big business in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. But the rest of the continent is catching up
. Sports betting shops are springing up across the country. “People have gone crazy,” he says. His friend had to sell his car last year after a run of bad luck. Others, though, are making out just fine. “It’s a cash cow,” says Sophonias Thilahun of Bet251, which plans to open 100 betting shops in Addis Ababa over the next six months. It may soon compete with 18 other companies, most of which were granted licences in the past year.
Ethiopia was until recently a laggard. Addis Ababa had a hotel casino in the time of Emperor Haile Selassie, but this was closed by the Marxist junta known as the Derg in the 1980s. Its successor, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, shared the Derg’s suspicion of gambling. The first betting licence was not granted until 2013 and the market remained mostly empty until 2016. Foreign firms are still prohibited.
Recent improvements in Ethiopia’s telecoms infrastructure help explain the boom. “Without internet you couldn’t do anything,” says Michael Demissew of Abyssinia Bet, a gambling firm that uses mobile money. The government has also softened its stance since the appointment of Abiy Ahmed, the relatively liberal prime minister, last year. It has allowed gambling advertisements on radio and television and may soon permit casinos. It is motivated by the potential for new tax revenue, says Sophonias.
But the boom also reflects deepening economic frustration among the country’s youth. “Almost everyone is playing for money, not entertainment,” says one punter. “You could get money here that you can’t get anywhere else.”section of the print edition under the headline
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