This archive report was first published on 15 July 2019.
On Monday, SportPesa published a full-page advert in The Standard newspaper to set the record straight on its finances and contributions to society.
According to the advert, the company collected Sh20 billion in revenue, made Sh9 billion in gross profit, and remitted Sh6.4 billion in taxes in 2018.
The revelation comes against the backdrop of accusations that the betting industry is not committed to paying taxes to the government.
A report by a multi-agency team set by the state indicated that betting companies made about Sh204 billion last year but paid only Sh4 billion in taxes.
Defending its activities, SportPesa listed a number of social responsibility initiatives within the sports community and local communities, including football, rugby, boxing, rally, agriculture, environment conservation, water access, and education infrastructure and community health development.
The company also listed sports activities it sponsors in the country, including the Kenyan Premier League and the Federation of Kenya Football Shield tournament.
Additionally, SportPesa has been running an initiative called 'Kits4Africa' that encourages football fans to donate their old kit to underprivileged, grassroots teams across Africa.
The publication comes two days after the government ordered Safaricom to stop processing payments for sports betting companies, potentially shutting down a lucrative source of revenue for the companies.
Many Kenyans argue that the closure of the betting accounts will impact heavily on millions who have made betting an occupation.
According to a report, betting firms accounted for 22 per cent of the Sh95 billion that media houses earned in advertising revenues last year, a far cry from 0.3 per cent in 2014.
