Kenya is one diverse market that has embraced change of times and adjusted with the technological tides. Sportpesa, Betin, betpower, Lotto you name it, are just a few of the fast growing companies that offer weekly jackpots the mega jackpots.
A few lucky Kenyans have reaped heavily. Many lives are changed through wins, and companies are comforted knowing that they are enabling the winners to make smart decisions that will ensure comfort in the long term.
Indeed, winning a jackpot is life transforming. Most Winners live in fear that all their relatives will run from the village and all other corners of the earth, just to seek financial help after seeing their kin win.
In a past event a Jamaican man wore a mask, from the horror movie Scream to claim his $158.4 million check ($1.17 million US) prize. The man, who simply identified himself as A. Campbell, waited 54 days to claim the ticket. Lottery winners wearing masks to claim their prize has become a trend. Surprising yeah? You know the funniest thing is that, most Africans if not all, would prefer being dressed in a costume just to be safe.
Research shows that it can sometimes end up having a devastating financial impact, increasing the risk for winners of going bankrupt within five years, compared with those who earn their money progressively.
This is attributed to the unexpected nature of the win, which does not see funds acquired progressively as consumers also learn how to manage their growing financial base, with winnings often considered as income rather than capital and consumers ending up spending frivolously and frequently creating tragedy in their lives.
Here is an honest opinion on why betting take a toll on most of it’s winners. In most cases, people that win them are usually not in formal employment, they are in casual jobs, which means they live from paycheck to paycheck. So, in such a case, if you give someone Sh5 million or Sh10 million, their most immediate needs will probably be a house and most of the things they have missed out on in their young adult life.
So the money just vanishes on extravagant goods. But if given to someone who has been working for five to 10 years in the corporate sector, their thinking may be different. Here were some reactions from a few Kenyans:
Would you prefer that the company offering you a huge monetary value after a mere luck, should allow you to put on a costume while receiving your reward?