Kenya Fails to Block Aviator

According to BCLB Director Peter Mbugi, the Aviator game is owned by a company registered in Poland. National regulators have no power to restrict access or revoke the license because the platform and servers are located outside Kenya. Moreover, it is impossible to ban operators offering Aviator.

Members of Parliament have expressed concern over the extensive advertising of the game in the Kenyan media. The seemingly ordinary and simple game Aviator has now become a “silent epidemic” that can ruin the lives of countless people. Students are spending their tuition money on gambling, while others are wasting family savings on ruining their marriages.

While Aviator has failed to be blocked, the Betting Control and Licensing Board has proposed new regulatory initiatives:

• Minimum capital for new operators: Sh50 million for small bookmakers, Sh5 billion for casinos.
• Identification upon registration: the player must present a photo with an ID in hand.
• Filtering of advertising: all advertising materials must be classified as adult content and go beyond the permitted airtime.

The Betting Licensing Commission has already suspended permission for outdoor advertising and has begun to actively restrict the use of advertising techniques such as daily jackpots, bonus discounts and “free bets”, which it regards as manipulative and potentially harmful to vulnerable groups. In parallel, attention is increasing to financial flows within the sector - government agencies are recording large-scale budget revenues. Over the past seven years, the gambling industry has contributed 96.7 billion Kenyan shillings to the treasury, including 22.3 billion in the 23/24 financial year. By January 2025, tax revenues from the industry amounted to 14.5 billion.

The head of the commission, Mbugi, stressed that the legal regulation of the industry is still based on outdated norms from 1966. He called on members of parliament to support the initiative to update the legislative framework, emphasizing the need for a systematic and relevant approach to controlling the rapidly developing betting market.

The proposed first steps are to introduce restrictions on aggressive advertising, increase financial thresholds for access to the market and strengthen the identification of players upon registration. These measures should not only increase the transparency of the industry, but also limit the popularity of instant games such as Aviator, which are especially often a source of problems for the younger population.