Win or lose: Chinese smartphones and WhatsApp enable offshore betting … – The Zimbabwe Mail

Online gambling is currently illegal in Zimbabwe, but during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, concluding on Sunday, the East African nation is home to a growing grey market drawing a number of customers — mainly unemployed young adults — to tap into offshore international internet betting platforms. The combination of cheap Chinese smartphones, WhatsApp organizing, and offshore websites where people place bets is helping people in Zimbabwe defy online betting rules and power outages, and wager ruthlessly on the unpredictable results of matches in this historic World Cup —  in which Morocco rode its underdog status to the semifinals, the first African team to do so. “My family needs to eat,” explained Nathan Mlilo, 24, who lives in Mutare, the country’s third biggest city. “In a day, l need $5 to decently survive my wife and two kids, [which is] not easy in Zimbabwe. Unlawful web sports betting is my salvation.” Africa has the largest number of people who engage in online sports betting between the age of 15 and 24, according to a study from Delasport in 2021. Gambling and sports betting offline in physical spaces is not something new in Zimbabwean culture. Betting houses in physical locations throughout
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