Kenya has one of the biggest and fastest growing sports betting markets in Africa. SportPesa which is a European based gaming operator established its presence in the Kenyan market and did very well for itself.
Kenyan authorities have raided three betting offices of SportPesa recently and have arrested 14 foreign nationals and have charged them with illegal betting offenses. All 14 foreign nationals have been deported and the betting offices have been sealed.
We take a look at why this happened to SportPesa.
However, things started going south for SportPesa and a number of other offshore sports betting operators in Kenya when the Kenyan government in collaboration with the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) starting imposing a new set of tax rules.
The Kenyan government was eager to get a bigger share of tax revenue from the lucrative sports betting market and betting operators like SportPesa were not too keen on paying out the extra taxes as it would mean slimmer profit margins.
SportPesa led the rebellion against the Kenyan government and the gambling watchdog which is the BCLB. The Kenyan government initially tried to work things out with sports betting operators but there was no given between the two sides. The BCLB issued a threat to betting operators telling them that if they did not comply with the new tax regulations, they would risk losing their betting licenses.
SportPesa did not comply with those restrictions and ended up losing its betting license in 2019. The betting operator was forced to pack up and exit the Kenyan market.
SportPesa did not want to give up completely on the lucrative Kenyan betting market and decided to reenter the market in 2020 under a new name. A new company called Milestone Games Limited was established and a sports betting license was obtained from the BCLB under the new registration.
SportPesa launched its sports betting operations in Kenya once again and was doing well. However, it was a short lived launch as the Kenyan government was not happy to see SportPesa functioning against in Kenya under a new name. The BCLB decided to revoke its betting license and Kenyan authorities decided to storm the SportPesa offices to send a clear message – you are no longer welcome in Kenya.
Fred Matiang’I, Kenyan Interior Cabinet Secretary addressed the raid on SportPesa and said that the Kenya government would not go back on their decision to ban SportPesa and eliminate its presence entirely from the Kenyan betting market.
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