In the absence of formal jobs and with deteriorating living conditions, “bets” are gaining more and more followers. Many look to betting as an alternative source of income or a way to escape poverty. But for most, the path leads to a dead end, where they lose the little they have. In daily life, walking through the streets of the city or the outskirts, it is easy to see groups of people of different ages and social classes gathered at a sports betting point, or, as they say, “placing bets.” Expansão closely followed this reality and found that most bettors turn to betting as a means of escaping poverty, in a context where unemployment is high.
According to Expansão’s findings, based on data from the first quarter of the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the country’s unemployment rate is around 29.4%, which practically means that for every 10 employed people in Angola, eight survive through odd jobs and other informal activities.
This figure also includes “betting” players who, even while unemployed, still spend at least 200 Kz per day on social games, boosting the fiscal revenue from gambling, an industry that moves significant amounts of money. According to the Gaming Supervision Institute (ISJ), in the first half of 2025, the state collected 13.23 billion Kz in tax revenue from games in general, representing a 64.2% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Part of this revenue comes from social betting.
When they say “placing bets,” bettors explain, they refer to the moment of deep concentration when they analyze football teams or other sports based on statistics, probabilities, and luck—a combination that informs the bet on the game’s outcome, whether as winner, loser, draw, or other categories.
“It’s not easy to place a bet, it requires technique, knowledge, and a lot of luck,” point out the bettors, accustomed to filling out betting slips almost daily.
In this context, “placing bets” refers to legal sports bets that are part of the social gaming category, recognized by Law No. 17/24 of October 28, 2024, which includes fixed-odds sports betting—as offered by Elefant Bet and Premier Bet—horse racing, and other bets allowed under a public license. This type of betting is different from games of chance, practiced in casinos.
Losses Don’t Kill Hope
Despite there being more losses than wins, as they told Expansão, bettors maintain hope of overcoming poverty and unemployment, helping to achieve dreams or earning some money to cover basic needs at a time when financial strain leaves little margin. Daniel Damião, for example, is a teacher at a private school plagued by precarious conditions, and he sees betting as an alternative source of income—and sometimes misfortune. The young man admits to being addicted to gambling and faces dependency problems that cause financial, emotional, and social issues. Even so, he cannot go a day without betting.
“I prefer to invest the only 200 Kz I have in my pocket to place bets and hope for something, rather than use that money to buy food or spend on another expense. My hope is to win millions in this game,” Daniel explained, who has already had family problems due to putting his living money into betting.
As revealed by the “bettors,” not everything in betting is wonderful. In fact, “there are more losses than wins.” However, even knowing that luck is a predominant factor in betting, when the “bet fails”—a term used by bettors to indicate a lost bet—the disappointment is visible in their eyes. But they quickly renew their hope, driven by the desire to escape poverty or win millions, thus remaining “tied” to the gambling addiction.
Source: Expansão
