The group reflected on the successes of the network so far including submitting a British Academy International Writing Workshop Application that that they hope to hear a positive outcome from soon and the multi-country study on student gambling that they are working on together. The workshop participants also discussed how to make sure the network has robust and sustainable governance structures as well as future funding for the network. A member of the Research Development International team from the University of Bristol talked through possible funding opportunities and pledged support to bids for more research funding in the future.
This full day workshop was followed in the evening by the very successful Public Lecture “Tackling the worldwide gambling epidemic. What we can learn from Africa” in Wills Memorial Great Hall. Professor Marie-Annick Gournet, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Reparative and Civic Futures provided a welcome to the event. A music video co-created in Kampala under the direction of Dr Branco Sekalegga and Dr David Kakeeto that aims to raise mass awareness of gambling harms across Uganda was then screened. It features a popular social media influencer. The researchers talked about the power of music, co-creation and social media to influence young people positively in the gambling harms space.
Professor Isabella Aboderin, Chair of Perivoli Africa Research Centre (PARC) then chaired an in-person panel discussion with:
- Daniel Ikenna Molobe, the Director of the Unified Initiative for a Drug Free Nigeria “Exploring the Nexus of Gambling in Irregular Migration: A Study of Nigerian Returned Migrants”.
- Dr Caitlin Ferreira, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, University of Cape Town, South Africa “Understanding South Africa’s betting boom”.
- Dr Jakobina Mwiiyale, Deputy University Librarian, University of Namibia “Exploring the diffusion of gambling information, the impact on consumers' behaviours and a model to address the harms”.
- Dr Gregory Jumah Nyongesa, Lecturer in Education, JOOUST, Kenya “Identification of and intervention in gambling effects among students and staff in public universities in Kenya”.
- Professor Agnes Nairn, Co-Director of the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, “What can we learn from Africa?”
The researchers, who are all members of the Pan-Africa Gambling Harms Research Network, shared the key points from the rich and varied projects from across Africa where it is abundantly clear that gambling harms is a fast growing and serious public health issue. It emerged through the discussions that global North researchers in this field have a lot to learn from Africa: how to involve communities in research so that the results are relevant actionable; how to harness the emotional power of music and drama in public health research; and how to ensure that early career researchers are empowered to take forward new and vibrant ideas.