No more sports betting to derail Uganda’s youth

President Museveni of Uganda has issued a directive ordering the permanent cessation of the issuance of new licences to sports betting firms. The renewal of permits to existing betting companies will also no longer be allowed.

According to the state, sports betting has fostered laziness among the youth and they have been distracted from seeking gainful activity.

“We have received a directive from President Museveni to stop the licensing of sports betting, gaming and gambling companies. The president has directed the board, which regulates those entities, accordingly. From now on, no new companies will be licensed. In the case of companies that are already registered, there will be no renewal of their licences when they expire,” David Bahati, Uganda’s State Minister of Finance, revealed on Sunday during a church service in Rugarama Hill in the town of Kabale.

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Many betting companies will suffer massive losses. This includes the betting powerhouse SportPesa, which moved to Uganda in 2017 in the hope of making that country another East African betting hub. The same goes for BetLion, which has gained a substantial market share in Uganda since entering that market early this year through sports sponsorship.

Speaking on wealth creation and the value that such companies add to Uganda, President Museveni said the following on Twitter:

That said, the total transformation of Africa will happen when we overcome the 10 strategic bottlenecks that we have identified and which I have spoken about severally. Key among them are infrastructure development, human resource development and market integration. #WEF19

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) January 24, 2019

In Davos, Switzerland, I met the MTN Group Chief Executive Officer, Rob Shuter, discussing with him an array of issues. I advised @mtnug to work towards floating shares on the Uganda Stock Exchange so that Ugandans can partly own the company. pic.twitter.com/6cWmzZkq6B

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) January 24, 2019

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Local ownership is important because it helps us stem capital flight which happens when the company is fully foreign owned. The question of repatriating 100% of your profits yet there is little value-addition and wealth creation for Ugandans is unfair. pic.twitter.com/aPlNuqla4x

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) January 24, 2019

He linked this to the betting culture in Uganda, saying, “It is for this reason that we are banning the registration of new fully owned foreign betting companies, while the old ones will not have their licences renewed. All they do is accumulate money from Ugandans, then ship it out of the country.”