
NAIROBI – Kenya introduced new gambling regulations on Thursday, including banning advertising outdoors and on social media, the interior minister said, after highlighting last month how it had become a problem for the young and poor.
Advertising of gambling will be banned between 6am and 10pm as will the endorsement by celebrities.
The gaming industry in Kenya has grown substantially over the last five years, the ministry said, to 200 billion shillings (R28.6 billion) from 2 billion, employing 5 000 people in the process.
“Rogue behaviour in the betting and lotteries industry is endangering the lives of our young people,” Kenya’s Interior Minister Fred Matiangi said in a statement. “This clean up has just started and we will carry it through no matter what it takes, because young Kenyan lives are worth saving.”
In April, he said betting had become a problem in Kenya, especially among young people. He said 54 percent of Kenyans involved in betting were low-incoming earners.