Nigerian sports federations urged to partner with betPawa to elevate player welfare

In a compelling call to action, Nigerian sports federations such as the football and basketball associations, have been encouraged to join forces with leading iGaming company betPawa, owned by the pawaTech Group, to enhance the welfare of players across the country. This appeal was made during a recent interview on the Sports Zone show on Lagos Talks FM, hosted by Charles Anazodo and Femi Farawe.

Representing betPawa’s CSR and sports development team, Raquel Puig (pronounced PUJ) and Nii Ashong-Katai Armah took to the airwaves to shed light on the company’s transformative initiative, the Locker Room Bonus. This innovative program is already making waves across Africa, and betPawa is now setting its sights on Nigeria to bring its unique rewards system to local athletes.

The Locker Room Bonus is a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to celebrate and reward sportswomen and men in real-time. Here’s how it works: players who make the matchday squad receive instant cash payouts directly to their mobile wallets immediately after a victorious game—before they even leave the stadium. This swift and seamless process has earned the initiative its catchy name, Locker Room Bonus.

The program goes beyond merely rewarding players; it recognizes their hard work and helps professionalize the leagues by establishing clear criteria for eligibility. Teams must submit player lists with full details, players confirm their identities via betPawa’s pawaPass security platform, and matchday squad lists are verified by local authorities. Once eligibility is confirmed, winning players receive instant cash bonuses directly to their mobile wallets, ensuring transparency and prompt rewards. Additionally, the initiative extends bonuses to technical staff, accounts for different team sizes, and requires official match results for payouts.

Since its launch, the Locker Room Bonus has been successfully implemented in Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania, where it has already begun to reshape the landscape of local sports. In Ghana’s Premier League, for instance, players have received significant payouts, with over 145 million naira (GH¢1.5 million) distributed in the 2023/2024 season alone. Similar success stories have emerged from Rwanda’s basketball leagues and Uganda’s football and futsal competitions, where players have expressed gratitude for the immediate financial rewards.

The initiative has also been extended to women’s sports, with the Ghana Women’s FA Cup now offering equal payouts to female athletes—a bold step toward gender equality in sports. This move has been widely celebrated as a milestone in empowering women athletes and leveling the playing field.

During the interview on Lagos Talks FM, the betPawa team emphasized their commitment to expanding the Locker Room Bonus to Nigeria. They called on Nigerian sports federations to collaborate with betPawa to bring this groundbreaking initiative to the country’s athletes.

betPawa’s planned expansion into Nigeria follows a major licensing agreement signed between its parent company, pawaTech Group, and Choplife Gaming. Under a four-year deal, Choplife Gaming, led by Nigerian entrepreneur and music executive Oluwatosin ‘Mr Eazi’ Ajibade, has acquired the rights to operate betPawa in Nigeria.

About betPawa

betPawa is a mobile iGaming brand. It operates across 17 countries in Africa, having opened six new markets in the last 12 months. The brand is on a mission to ‘make betting friendly’ by providing 24-hour customer support, a user-friendly platform, the lowest minimum stakes, and guaranteed & instant payments.

About pawaTech Group

pawaTech Group, co-founded by Danish entrepreneur and investor Kresten Buch in 2015, is an iGaming solutions provider, delivering sportsbook, casino, lottery, and player management software as a service. In addition to this, pawaTech provides operational support and licenses to betPawa via its African HQ in Kigali, Rwanda. betPawa is Africa’s largest betting brand, available in 17 African countries.