The last casino in Scotland

Author: Simon Dexter

If the opening of a casino is the sign of a maturing economy, then Uganda is well on its way to establishing itself as one of the emerging nations from Africa.

Last month in the capital Kampala, the doors of a new casino were thrown open amid glamour and a list of A-List celebrities (The A standing for African – rather than some of the world’s best known stars).

According to the independent Monitor Newspaper (incidentally funded to maintain its independence from a donation by the horse-racing owner the Aga Khan) the casino “hosted guests from ministers like the Minister of State for Investment Semakula Kiwanuka, Kampala’s movers and shakers like the mayor Al hajji Nasser Ntenge Sebaggala, business tycoons - Sudhir Ruperelia, Sikander Lalan and Riyaz Kurji, musicians Bobi Wine and The Obsessions, radio personalities like Crystal Newman, socialites, discotheque owners - Charlie Lubega, Elvis Sekyanzi, Ali Alybhai and the man who has enjoyed 13 years as the king of Kampala’s gambling world - Kampala Casino’s Bob Kabonero.”

These great and good were entertained by a troop of Russian dancers who not only provided the entertainment (and will do so for the next month) but they also served drinks while performing a striptease act.

Casinos have not always been a success in Uganda. Although two have survived for many years, others have come and gone after failing to attract the amount of customers they needed to break even.

The Grand Casino is one of the longest established gambling houses and its Finance Controller, Mohammed Twaha is well aware of the problems faced by the casinos.

He said “It is not easy to maintain a casino here, the middle class is small, yet the money used to maintain the casino is much, when gamblers win the money you have to replace it”

He believes that foreign visitors have been the lifeblood for The Grand but it is the internal wealth that needs to increase for the venture to become truly successful.

“We have always managed to bring in visitors from abroad as a way to keep the casino going.

“Gamblers are few; they are just a particular group of people, and there are no chances that they will increase, unless the middle class also increases,” he told the Monitor.

It does seem strange that there are casinos in countries with such a low GDP but thanks to globalisation, the market is now king and if the economy can sustain a casino then presumably it will.

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