Online Gambling in the Rural Global South: Probably the Next Major Silent Killer

This paper combines the author’s evaluative datasets with nascent literature on rural gambling, to come to a narrative about a worsening epidemic of online gambling disorders in the rural Global South. The paper posits that the rapid spread of mobile money enabled gambling companies to penetrate ever deeper into regions they could not previously access. This has generated a significant and growing flow of money from rural regions to distant companies, and a wave of gambling disorders among rural men. There is evidence that online gambling is increasingly affecting rural women as well. The offer is enormous and it is available 24/7, from the privacy of one’s home. Regulation is rudimentary and restrictions are ineffective. In most rural regions harm-reduction support is not available. Online gambling is likely to be the next major silent killer in the rural Global South.