{"id":90810,"date":"2025-10-27T12:52:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/?p=90810"},"modified":"2025-11-26T11:30:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:30:21","slug":"this-week-in-charts-24-october-2025-renewable-energy-mix-boost-feeding-children-sas-growing-gambling-habit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2025\/10\/27\/this-week-in-charts-24-october-2025-renewable-energy-mix-boost-feeding-children-sas-growing-gambling-habit\/","title":{"rendered":"This week in charts 131: Renewable energy mix boost, feeding children, SA’s growing gambling habit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\ud83c\udfb0 Wager nation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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South Africans are gambling staggering amounts of money, and it\u2019s growing fast. The latest National Gambling Board report shows that in the 2024\/25 financial year, a total of R1.5-trillion was wagered across all forms of legal gambling. That\u2019s not the total lost, it\u2019s the amount spent placing bets, much of it recycled through repeated wagering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put it in perspective: that figure is higher than the combined national budgets for health, education, and social grants. It\u2019s an eye-watering level of gambling activity for a country grappling with unemployment and poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of this explosion comes from sports betting, which now dominates the market. Of the R1.5-trillion total, about R1.13-trillion, or three-quarters, came from betting on sports and horse racing. Casinos accounted for just under 20%, with the rest from bingo and limited-payout machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In just five years, total gambling turnover has multiplied several times over, driven by online and mobile betting platforms that make it effortless to wager again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcf1Going digital<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In Africa, 21 countries reported that over half of their adult population had made or received a digital payment in 2024, according to the\u00a0World Bank\u2019s Global Findex 2025 report<\/a>. The report defines a digital payment as any payment sent from or received in a bank, financial institution, post office, or through a mobile money account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital payments are not only safer than cash, but they can also help small-scale merchants access credit. The report notes that digital payments help merchants \u201cby giving them real-time records of cash flows they can use to support loan applications aimed at funding working capital or job creation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenya leads the continent, with 89% of adults using digital payments, compared to South Africa\u2019s 67%. Interestingly, Mauritius, which has continent\u2019s highest GDP per capita, had only 64%, while Malawi, with one of the lowest GDPs per capita, had 49% adoption. While higher GDP per capita generally supports digital payment adoption, Africa shows some exceptions, with some lower-income countries leading the way, most likely due to the high use of mobile money transfer services, such as M-Pesa.In Sub-Saharan Africa, 27% of adults said they still pay with cash because they are accustomed to it, and 8% said their merchants only accept cash. \u201cDigital payments cannot replace cash payments until merchants and other payment recipients operate in a supportive business environment, with affordable and reliable access to a digital ecosystem,\u201d the report found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, over 60% of adults in low- and middle-income countries made or received at least one digital payment. That is up from 34% a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n