Mogadishu (PP Features) — Sooyaan (not his real name) is a twenty-four year old man in Mogadishu. He works as an administrator with a government agency. When he is not at work, he is glued to his mobile, sometimes for several hours on end betting on results of European football matches.
For many people, it is inconceivable that a Somali can bet online in Mogadishu without having a Visa card or Mastercard or an account with a betting company based in Europe or North America.
Enter Kulan Sports, a Somalia-specific online betting shop whose servers are based in Tanzania. It is where Sooyaan spends three to four hours a day, spending US $80 a week on average.
Kulan Sports has a facility for Somalia-based gamblers. Registering with Kulan Sports and having an electronic money transfer service account such as EVG, Sahal or Zaad are two requirements. There is a minimum deposit of US$0.50 to start betting online with Kulan Sports. A betting enthusiast is required to predict the results of two matches correctly to win the bet. In the case of winning a bet, the betting enthusiast will have to wait for forty minutes to have the winnings transferred into his or her account without notification.
Sooyaan complains of the betting habit which” is becoming addiction”. He is not the only person who finds online betting an economically costly hobby. “I had to borrow money from friends and relatives several times to pay the bills because I lost far too many bets than I had won” Sooyaan told Puntland Post.
Owners of Kulan Sports managed to hide their company’s identity but they found a way to do business through deals with major money transfer service providers in Somalia. In its websites, Kulan directs customers to 3093, a Hormuud-operated telephone number.
Some Somalia-based telecommunications companies block access to online betting shops such as 365.com, where having a credit card or debit card is a prerequisite for betting.
“Mobile money transfer service providers are probably unaware of how an unregulated business is using their services,” says Abdirahim Aden, a Nairobi-based financial analyst.
Kulan Sports provides yet another example about how unscrupulous businesses can exploit the lightly regulated telecommunications and financial service industries in Somalia.
© Puntland Post, 2020
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