Kenyan sports betting companies sometimes help communities and donate funds in different projects. Common attitude to sports betting and gambling overally is tolerant. Owners of sports betting companies in Kenya try to giveaway money back to society surely not because they really want to help poor people, but to show, that their activity is not focused on taking money from people.
Charity or not?
If we look closer to projects facing support or being financed by bettings companies operating in Kenya, we’ll find, that there’re a certain list of fields, where help are given as sponsorship:
- support for local sports clubs and leagues
- support for rural areas of Kenya
- medical help for hospitals and clinics
This is understandable, becasue sponsorship and support from betting companies in Kenya shoud affect or must be given to a social groups, that are affected by gambling most. For sure, one of the most affected social groups are students and youngsters, but in this case it means, that betting companies must return earnings back to schools and universities. It can be potentially problematic, because giving back to community will evoke promotions in the place or in an institution whom support is aimed. Just imagine a reaction of parents, who see an advertisment or even promo-shooting in the school their child attend.
Yes, you will help to buy equipment for a school, colledge or high school, but the same way you are facing of charges of promoting gambling among youngsters. This is the main reason, why betting business is avoiding educational institutions even in case when college or school really needs help, especially in Kenya.
Every kenyan (and not only) betting company is interested mainly not only in help and support, but in showing the community and kenyan government, that they really help and giving back to community. It’s understandable that every company is shooting promo-materials and publish it in social networks and offline- and online newspapers to let the kenyan society know, what are they doing.
“it’s truly clever to return back to comminity at least a part of what you get from it”
We cannot exclude really anonymous donations and support, but everybody knows that business is business and silent giveaway bring no “social profit” to a betting company not only in Kenya. Why would they do it if nobody will know about it?
Is it easy to help?
Representatives of betting companies operating in Kenya during informal conversations point to a high level of curruption on all levels in Kenya. You have an intention to bring and install a water tank in a village? It won’t be possible just to buy, transport, install and maintenance it. You must count with costs for bribes. Unexpectedly even in case you just plant to help people who really needs help, you have to pay for it. Kenyan local authorities do really care about their political popularity and power, but they do really like to gain it using money of investors.
This is one of the main factors which scares investors in attempt to give back funds to a community. Not everyone is prepared for paying double of an amount he has for giveaway.
There’s a theory, that bribes are the money which will reach the society in the end, because corruptionists will spend them in the area/county/country the live: they will buy goods and services, they will creaty a demand of goods on the market and possibly create new job opportunities for others. This is partially true, but in the end the community will recieve less that it could receive. Bribes in Kenya are often not given in form of cash, but in form of higher (than a law defines) license fees. There’re cases, when state officers are asking for fees that don’t even exist. It’s really frustrating to pay additional funds for money you are giving to local people, but there’s no solution. In our case betting is “special” field, where you have to break the rules, because this is you who need to show, that you are doing something in return for your activity.
