By “I only wanted to help my mother fix our leaking roof,” says Felix, a 23-year-old. “Now I owe loan apps and friends over 100,000 shillings, money I have never seen my entire life forget about what such an amount could do to improve the situation of my family.”
Felix was only 10 years old when his father died, his younger sister was barely 2 years old. His widowed mother was left to fend for herself and the two kids on her own. If you grew up in the remote villages of Kenya, you can relate to the situation, no proper social amenities, no big source of income. It’s a bit easier in the city where one can go seek minor jobs such as laundry to make a few shillings. In the village, you either tilt people’s land or run after the fishermen to get some fish tips.
Felix grew up witnessing the hardships his mother went through to offer them one meal a day, every day his mother pitched the notion, “Education is the Key to success. “So when Felix emerged top of his class and got a place at the University of Nairobi, their joy knew no bounds. At last, they could see a glimpse of light through the horizon of darkness. Little did they know it was a curse in disguise he was better off in the village where their minds dwelled between fixing a meal for the day and listening to the only radio in the village at the chief’s “Barraza” every evening and if the chief was in a good mood, he would put out a television for them to watch football. One of which was Felix’s best weekends, he would tip the Chief with the fattest fish a day after that.
Just like any other young lad from upcountry, when Felix stepped foot into the city he admired everything about city life, from the houses to the sense of clothing. He dreamt of giving a taste of the city luxury to his poor mother and baby sister. So when he realized that most of the few friends he had made on campus were always glued on their electronics and would echo shouts of excitement over what they whispered as “Forex withdrawals”, he was curious to know what that was since the same guys were driving heavy Machines to school. Sooner than he could realize, Felix had deposited the HELB money for the new semester on Forex, and the money and washed away in the sea of electronic trading overnight.
With the promise of getting the money back before the new Semester began, his friends introduced him to Mobile Loan apps where he borrowed money and deposited them in Gambling apps hoping for recovery and more from Aviator. After all, Aviator seemed legit and promising according to the online and television advertisements. But all that was in vain.
Having dropped out of the University due to arrears, Felix is now left wandering the streets of Nairobi and holding the fear and shame of returning home. “I don’t want to be the cause of my mother’s death by Heart attack,” Felix answered amidst tears when once asked why he couldn’t go back home instead of suffering in Nairobi streets.
In Kenya today, a new addiction is sweeping across the youth. It’s not alcohol, not drugs, but a dangerous cocktail of online gambling masked as financial empowerment. With dreams of breaking the generational curse of poverty, thousands of young people are turning to forex trading and betting games like Aviator, believing it’s their golden ticket out of hardship. Instead, many are falling deeper into financial ruin, mental distress, and despair.
For many Kenyan youth, the dream is to escape poverty, support their families, and build a better future. In a country where job opportunities are scarce and inflation is suffocating, the allure of making money from a smartphone is too strong to resist. Forex trading which was once the domain of financial institutions has become the modern “hustle,” glorified by social media influencers flaunting rented cars and fake profits.
But beneath the flashy screenshots and tutorials lies a harsh reality. Over 95% of beginner forex traders lose their money. Without proper training, mentorship, or understanding of financial markets, many young traders wipe out their savings in days if not overnight.
Felix’s story mirrors that of many. After losing his fees in forex trading, he felt crushed and desperate to recover his losses. That’s when he discovered Aviator, a high-speed online betting game that promises instant winnings. “I told myself I’d just play once, make back 20k, and stop,” he says. But the one-time bet turned into a daily obsession. The game, designed to keep users hooked, rewarded him with small wins, only to take back more the next round. What started as a recovery gamble became a full-blown addiction.
And Felix is not alone. Social media platforms are flooded with stories of young Kenyans chasing one “last win.” What they don’t see are the tears behind the screens, the debts piling up, and the relationships breaking under pressure. These digital traps exploit the very desperation that pushes youth to seek financial freedom.
Worse still, many don’t realize they’ve crossed the line from trading to gambling. The lines have been blurred. Telegram groups promising “signals, robots,” and “guaranteed wins” are just modern-day scams that prey on hope. The thirst for a quick breakthrough has turned into a poison chalice.
The dream of breaking free from poverty is not wrong. It’s noble. But when desperation meets digital deception, the outcome is deadly. What we are witnessing is not just a youth crisis, it’s a national emergency hiding in plain sight. Kenya’s young generation is not lazy. They are ambitious, innovative, and determined. But ambition, when misdirected, leads to addiction, loss, and misery.
Financial freedom is a good tool for eradicating poverty, but we must not forget that mental manipulation is a blurring poison towards that road.
To save our youth, we must stop glamorizing quick money and start teaching real financial literacy, emotional discipline, and entrepreneurial patience. The real jackpot is not in chasing airplanes on Aviator or gambling away savings in forex; it’s in building something real, something slow, and something that lasts.
Until then, many like Felix will continue to fall, hoping to fly only to crash harder each time.
