Might legalized gambling expose Kenyan microenterprises to survival risks during COVID-19 Pandemic?
Abstract/ Overview
Microenterprises are very small in size but growth-oriented enterprises largely dependent on founder’s
cultural orientation for survival. Kenya enacted a legal framework on micro and small enterprise
development in 2012. However, heightened activity of legalised gambling houses in the past decade has
exposed microenterprises to survival risks. This has been aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially
lockdowns and other control measures. We find that in the midst of the pandemic, wages are reduced due
to lay-offs, revenue-based taxation of microenterprises are reduced due to gambling, but gambling has
increased steadily. We observe temporal benefits of gambling in terms of certain jobs and demand for
goods, however, individuals are psychologically distressed. We propose policy reforms focusing on
initiatives that sustain short-term microenterprise liquidity as well as shifting operations to the digital space.