Sports betting firm, SportPesa, has launched operations in Tanzania, after successful operations in Kenya and the UK.
Speaking during the launch, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, the Minister for Sports in Tanzania, urged SportPesa to replicate its success in Kenya to lift the standards of sports in his nation.
“We welcome SportPesa to Tanzania and are eagerly looking forward to see the company partnering with our institutions to develop sport in this country as it has done for our neighbours,” he said.
Mwakyembe said the Government of Tanzania will support initiatives aimed at giving local talent international exposure, the way SportPesa has given their counterparts in Kenya. “We are excited at the prospect of working together to realise this goal in the near future,” he said.
All parties will jointly benefit from the existing SportPesa partnerships with big English Premier League clubs such as Arsenal, Southampton and Hull City, the first side in the top division to be shirt-sponsored by an African brand, and hopefully many local partnerships.
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The launch in Tanzania comes weeks after SportPesa signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Spanish league La Liga and just days after paying out the highest mega jackpot in African gaming history of Ksh221 million to Samuel Abisai, a low-profile football fan and betting enthusiast.
SportPesa was established in Kenya in 2014 and has offices in Liverpool, Nairobi and now Dar-es-Salaam.
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