Hub funding enables researchers across Africa to further their efforts to reduce gambling harms
More than £70k has been awarded to early career researchers and first-time project managers whose groundbreaking work is changing the way gambling harms are understood and addressed across Africa. Coupled with expert support from the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, the projects and a new Pan-Africa Gambling Harms Research Network that emerged through them, demonstrate the importance of collaboration.
Enhancing knowledge exchange and skills development
For Dr Selma Iilonga, the Hub’s financial and networking support meant she was able to lead researchers from the University of Namibia (UNAM) in working with local communities to explore public perceptions of gambling and gambling marketing.
Dr Iilonga and her team gathered a wealth of data through surveys, interviews and observations of gambling houses across Namibia. For the project team, it was a significant career-enhancing opportunity to develop essential research skills.
Echoing one of the Hub’s core aims to strengthen consumer protection, the findings sparked important conversations after Dr Iilonga presented her team’s recommendations at a workshop involving public health researchers, regulators and government representatives.
Dr Iilonga’s participation in the Hub’s 2024 colloquium in Bristol subsequently allowed her to explore future collaborations by meeting fellow researchers from across the world. Attending the colloquium also enabled Dr Iilonga, in her parallel role as Senior Librarian for Scholarly Communication, to meet with Bristol’s senior library services team at the university.
Visiting the University was particularly insightful. Some of the key takeaways included the use of open access transformative agreements, workshops on digital literacy skills and dedicated study spaces. I was able to share these ideas with the University of Namibia Library Management, some of which have informed our redesign of the faculty library.
Facilitating research project management
Dr Gregory Jumah Nyongesa was still completing his PhD when he applied for the Hub’s Research Innovation Fund Seedcorn Award to investigate the prevalence and impact of gambling among staff and students at Kenya’s Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST).
The funding not only allowed him to conduct his first research project – one that garnered national media attention and prompted JOOUST to improve its counselling services as part of measures to raise awareness and increase support – it was a rare opportunity to manage a large team of senior academics.
The Hub’s advice built my confidence to lead a diverse research team and turn ideas into meaningful interventions. It also opened doors to wider collaborations, amplifying the impact of our work across Africa.
Supporting community connections
In Uganda the Hub funded an innovative research project that leveraged the transformative potential of music and drama to inspire positive behavioural change among young people.
Led by Dr Branco Sekalegga, Lecturer of Music at Makerere University, Uganda and Dr David Kakeeto, Senior Lecturer in Educational Technology and Dean of Faculty of Science and Technology at Victoria University, Uganda, the project resulted in a music video starring a local youth influencer, and a short drama highlighting the risks of gambling. The film inspired community leaders to work with local artists and schools who have begun integrating the performing arts into their curricula as a tool for promoting social awareness.
The Hub’s support was instrumental in bringing this project to life, particularly at a time when gambling-related harms are rapidly rising in Uganda’s urban centres and yet remain under-researched and under-addressed. Without this financial backing, the project would not have reached the scale or depth required to surface hidden stories, mobilise communities in laying the foundation for a sustainable, grassroots advocacy model grounded in Uganda’s rich cultural and linguistic diversity.
Growing a mutually-supportive network
Building on the University of Bristol’s commitment to champion African scholars and institutions as part of a global ecosystem, the Hub received funding from the University of Bristol’s international collaboration fund and the Perivoli Africa Research Centre for a new Pan-Africa Gambling Harms Research Network.
The network was instigated during a 2025 workshop in Kenya, involving a multidisciplinary cohort of gambling harms researchers from across Africa with specialisms in everything from the performing arts and marketing, to public policy and mathematical modelling. Its driving ambition is to strengthen research collaborations and build the capacity of researchers who are investigating the impact of gambling and gambling harms.
Those involved in the network are now working on a new international research project, funded by the Hub, that will compare gambling patterns amongst students in seven countries – Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, UK and Sweden.
The network reconvened later in 2025 in Bristol thanks to the sponsorship of the Bristol Collegiate Research Society. On the eve of the Hub’s annual international, interdisciplinary colloquium, members created concrete plans for the network, and showcased their research during a public lecture, aptly titled; “Tackling the worldwide gambling epidemic. What can we learn from Africa?’
The network has also applied to the British Academy to fund an academic writing workshop in Kenya in 2026 to deliver mentoring and training to the Early Career Researchers in the network.