Youths in East African country spend the most on football betting

Nigerian guys spend a lot on football betting every weekend but not as much as Kenyan guys.

According to a survey by GeoPoll, Kenyan youths place more bets on sports than youths from any sub-Saharan country in Africa.

Six countries featured in the survey, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya. It involved young people from the ages of 17-35.

Kenyans within this age bracket bet once a week and spend $50 doing so. That's N15,000 every week. Millennials in Nigeria spend less every week hoping to win the jackpot.

The odd thing about millennials betting in Kenya is that most of them never get $50 back or more from betting.

At the other end, our neighbours Ghana has the least number of young people who bet on sports. Surprisingly, South Africa has the lowest use of mobile phones for sports betting.

Sports betting or specifically football betting is very popular among millennials in Nigeria. It is one of the get-rich-quick schemes that young people patronise.

Every weekend, young Nigerians place bets on football matches in Europe, some in obscure countries like Lithuania. For some, watching football is no longer pure entertainment but an investment.

At the 2010 World Cup, football betting companies sprang up to cash in on the football fever that gripped the country. A few years later companies like Naira Bet have established themselves as multi-million Naira organisations.