The 20% Tax Inside Zimbabwe’s Digital Betting Explosion and the Psychology Behind It

This story by Iyke Bede is part of the result of a collaboration between GAMINGWEEK and Gamble Aware NG, an Africa-focused Responsible Gaming organisation based in Nigeria. The teamwork enables both platforms to take a closer look at the conversations shaping Africa’s gaming industry beyond business figures and market growth

Zimbabwe’s gambling sector has expanded rapidly in recent years. Industry estimates suggest the market generated about $120 million in revenue in 2023, with online operations contributing roughly $45 million. Growth of between eight per cent and 10 per cent into 2024 prompted the government to tighten oversight, introducing a major tax overhaul that took effect on January 1, 2026, including an increase in bookmaker tax from three per cent to 20 per cent.

​Yet, behind these rising state returns are thousands of young people trapped in a cycle of problem gambling. While the state aims to monetise the windfall, a deeper psychological scar lingers.

​To look past the figures, I spoke with Bothwell Matewe, a registered psychologist and gambling therapist in Zimbabwe. His insights reveal a rapidly shifting ecosystem where economic distress and digital accessibility have fundamentally altered how young people interact with risk.

​The new architecture of engagement

​Traditionally, soccer betting was the dominant choice for local players. Today, mobile crash games like Aviator have taken over due to their simplicity and fast pace. Because most platforms are now mobile-based, young people can gamble privately at any time, entirely bypassing the public betting shops of the past.

​”The landscape has shifted dramatically,” Matewe notes. “We are no longer looking at traditional sports betting where someone walks into a shop. The integration of mobile money and crash games means the casino is now inside their pockets, accessible 24/7 without any social friction.”

​This shift is heavily tied to a psychological fear of missing out (FOMO). Young people constantly see peers claiming to make quick money online, creating intense social pressure to join the digital cycle.

​Economic distress and psychological vulnerability

​The current economic climate acts as the primary driver for this behaviour. High unemployment rates and financial instability leave many youth idle and frustrated. In this environment, gambling is no longer viewed as entertainment. Instead, it is used as a desperate coping mechanism for financial pressure, stress, and anxiety.

​”In an environment with limited economic alternatives, gambling ceases to be a recreational activity,” Matewe explains. “It gets recontextualised as a survival strategy. Young people are using these rapid-fire digital platforms to cope with severe financial anxiety, chasing a quick escape from structural poverty.”

​The mechanics of these mobile games create distinct cognitive hooks. Operating on unpredictable rewards, they keep the brain anticipating the next win, reinforcing repeated play. Because these platforms are easily accessible on personal phones, individuals spend long hours gambling alone, gradually developing a deep behavioural attachment.

​The illusion of the ‘opportunity economy’

​Marketing tactics heavily promote gambling as a legitimate “opportunity economy” for quick financial gain. This framing distorts how players perceive risk: instead of considering the actual likelihood of losing, they focus entirely on the possibility of a life-changing win.

​Social media platforms sustain this illusion through selective exposure. Feeds on WhatsApp, TikTok, and Instagram are flooded with screenshots of winning tickets, while stories of financial ruin are hidden. This creates a false reality, forcing a culture of social comparison where young people feel intense pressure to post their own wins to avoid looking left behind.

​Missing the warning signs

​Dependency shows clear behavioural and financial warning signs that often go unnoticed. Individuals begin spending excessive time on betting apps, which quickly spirals into frequent borrowing and rising debt. This behaviour is accompanied by sudden mood shifts and neglected responsibilities, often manifesting as late nights spent tracking game outcomes on mobile phones.

​Unfortunately, families frequently miss these signals because the habit is now heavily normalised. Once associated with shame and secrecy, gambling is now presented as fashionable and admirable.

​”We are seeing a dangerous normalisation within the domestic sphere,” warns Matewe. “Parents often overlook the initial signs because the youth are simply sitting quietly with their smartphones. The cultural jargon around betting has been integrated into everyday street language, masking what is fundamentally a severe mental health crisis until absolute financial ruin occurs.”

​Systemic failures and collective responsibility

​Zimbabwe’s current mental health and regulatory frameworks are not adequate to handle this crisis. Public interventions remain heavily focused on substance abuse, leaving a massive gap in services for behavioural addictions. On the regulatory side, celebrity endorsements and aggressive digital advertisements continue to target vulnerable demographics with minimal restrictions.

​Crucially, the current conversation unfairly places all the blame on the individual gambler. It ignores the highly persuasive, psychologically engineered systems designed to maximise engagement through flashing visuals, near misses, and rapid rewards.

​”The current narrative is highly flawed because it treats addiction purely as a personal moral failure,” Matewe reiterates. “It completely ignores the systemic design. These platforms are explicitly engineered using advanced behavioural psychology to exploit cognitive vulnerabilities. Punishing or blaming the individual does nothing to dismantle the machinery that creates the addiction.”

​Addressing this requires a unified strategy in which psychologists steer the conversation toward early detection and community education, while the media dismantles the myth of easy wealth by publicising the real financial risks. At the same time, gaming operators must transition toward ethical marketing, establishing concrete spending limits and robust age-verification tools, as regulators step in to curb the spread of aggressive digital ads targeting youth.

​Continental lessons

​The intersection of rapid digital expansion and economic vulnerability provides a clear lesson for the broader African continent. Gambling infrastructure naturally outpaces mental health awareness, regulation, and public education. Treating an expanding gaming market solely as an economic asset without safeguarding public health will eventually create a society burdened by deep psychological strain and dependency.