Review of most branched African bookmaker — betPawa in Rwanda

Established in 2014, betPawa is now one of the most far-reaching online bookmakers in the whole Africa.

With its motto “Bet Small, Win BIG”, this firm is famous for a few particular things. The first one is a very low minimum stake provided in Rwanda — only 1 Rwandan franc in our country. Secondly, there is a win bonus for combo bets.

Then, an opportunity to download an app of betPawa lets you save on mobile traffic and gamble from anywhere with an internet connection.

But is it worth it to bet on sports in betPawa? Experts of Takebet Rwanda have concluded a research and completed a review of this sportsbook to tell you about registration of an online betting account here, withdrawing money from betPawa and paying for a deposit, their mobile website, jackpots and bonus offers.

Ready, my men? Let’s dive in!

Details about company: history and founder

BetPawa is a pan-African online bookmaker, true. However, it was established and is now operated by foreign entrepreneurs including Rasmus Hansen, a betPawa founder who is serving as the company's CTO, under local trade names. Hansen started this business with a minimal development team. He is also the co-founder of Alien Gaming Intelligence and the Senior Technical Advisor of Pawapay company.

According to the betPawa review compiled by Takebet Rwanda, this online bookmaker came to be one of the fastest-growing gaming companies in Africa. It plans to launch in several more states of the African continent.

The official global website address of the bookmaker is www.betpawa.com, which is basically a starting page with a country selector from where you can get to any local site.

The company offers a way of opening an account in Rwanda at www.betpawa.rw as this is the official Rwandan website of the bookmaker. The language of this online sports betting site is English, with no French for Rwanda at the time of writing this review.

License and industry stature

So is betPawa legit or a scam? The former! The company is licensed in every African state it operates in. Let’s review their license and company: the official name of betPawa Rwanda is registered with the MINICOM as Betpawa Ltd with a license #019.

Their game is on when it comes to sponsorship agreements. In October 2018, the company announced the signing of an influential Nigerian pop star Mr Eazi as their brand ambassador. With him, the bookie launched the emPawa initiative frequently featured in the betPawa Rwanda news: Mr Eazy and four more producers teamed with the bookie to produce a hundred music videos for young artists and to fund a study for 10 of them at emPawa Music Masterclass in South Africa for three weeks.

With this sponsorship deal, Mr Eazy and betPawa are helping promising African artists to uncover their full potential with the support of local African online sports betting enthusiasts. How? Easy: 10% of every bet on their famous jackpots was set to be donated to this charity. Pretty cool, says Takebet Rwanda!

Now, within their “Win BIG, Give Back” charity initiative, the bookmaker awards big winners with additional cash for community causes. In April 2022, a water plant engineer Rophus Mwachia from Kenya won 211,896.09 KES from a 24-leg accumulator bet of 93.02 KES. He was awarded another 700,000 KES to complete a water borehole for his struggling community. In the same fashion, David Kaberia of Kenya staked 27.91 KES on a 14-leg multiple bet, which landed him 109,150.76 KES thanks to a 55% bonus boost at betPawa — with additional 800,000 KES for this Mery County local to provide his community college with new furniture.

Since the 2022-23 Ghana Premier League season, the firm is its title sponsor — with the league named betPawa Premier League for marketing reasons.

Come to join betPawa Rwanda easily online

With the company being available in lots of countries across Africa, no surprise that the question of how to create an account online is asked so often. That’s why the BetPawa registration and log in procedures in Rwanda are what we start with right here.

The basic way of opening an account with betPawa is through their official website. You will need a valid telephone number to become their customer and receive confirmation SMS. More info might be asked of you based on your country's laws.

To join betPawa in Rwanda, you must be 18 years old or over.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to sign up for an account:

1. Visit the international betpawa.com webpage and select your country to choose a local site. Alternatively, access the local website in Rwanda.
2. Tap on JOIN NOW to open the registration form.
3. Fill in the required fields: 1) mobile number, 2) PIN.
4. Tick the terms and conditions box after reading and complying with the betPawa T&C in order to know your rights and tap on JOIN NOW.

A one-time password will be sent to your mobile telephone number, required to verify your sign up with betPawa Rwanda. Input it and tap on VERIFY ACCOUNT.

Your account number can then be found in your profile. Mind that your registered mobile phone number is used for identification.

Virtual account verification (KYC and AML)

As on any legit online sports betting site, after Bet Pawa join Rwanda procedure has been completed, your betPawa account might become a subject to KYC (“Know Your Customer”) and AML (anti-money laundering). These procedures are paper checks that are called to verify your identity and your age as well as the ownership of the payment methods used to deposit money and withdraw.

At the time of writing, account verification was deactivated according to Rachel, the betPawa customer representative Takebet Rwanda spoke to about the issue: “The KYC has been deactivated for now. You can request withdrawal to any bank account you want anytime you want. Please note that withdrawal may be delayed for 10 to 15 minutes, but we advise that you always check your account balance for your withdrawal.”

However, one should be wary that in case of large deposits and payouts, a bettor will probably have to pass KYC/AML as these procedures are imposed by the rules. You may not be able to withdraw right after your betPawa sign up and winning the first bet. For identification, the document required can either be your passport, an identification card or a driving license. They must be yours and be valid at the time of submission.

Residential address verification requires a scanned copy or a picture of one of these documents: a bank statement, a utility bill, a council tax bill, a mortgage statement or an admission letter. Make sure that the proof papers aren't older than three months.

You'll have to wait for confirmation after you submit the requested documents before you can withdraw any balance or even place new bets. Note that if your betPawa account KYC fails, the bookmaker has the right to retain any deposited balance.

Slim choice with gems: betPawa Rwanda bonus offers and promos

At betPawa, there is no welcome bonus offered for sign up at all, so you don’t get anything upon your first deposit. To make up for this, betPawa offers their Pawa6 free bet jackpot and a win bonus on multi bets. The availability of these offers still depends on your country.

Pawa6 prediction game

In some countries of betPawa, customers can play a free-to-bet jackpot called Pawa6. It allows you to predict scores of football games and win bonuses.

Here is how to play the Pawa6 jackpot at betPawa:

1. First complete your login to the bookmaker.
2. Enter the current round of Pawa6 with six (6) football correct scores predictions. The bookie chooses the matches which bettors must predict.
3. Get all six scores correctly to win the weekly jackpot in Pawa6!

The Pawa6 prize in Rwanda is 25,500,000 RWF (July 2022), fixed each round.

Each week top 20 tipsters of Pawa6 get smaller money prizes other than the jackpot.

Boost your winnings: 500% bonus

There is a high bonus offered by this sports betting site to those who know how to win. Your accumulator (multi) bets count towards this promo, starting with threefolds. This bonus offer of betPawa recently doubled from a 250% increase to 500%. However, this percentage may differ depending on the country from where you play.

So how does this betting offer work? Easy: you bet as low as your minimum stake on an accumulator (also known as a multiple, a multi bet and a combo bet) with three (3) selections or more. The more legs you add to your acca, the bigger bonus you receive. Win 45 selections to get the betPawa win bonus boost!

Below is the table of legs and corresponding bonuses for multibets.

So as visible, this betPawa jackpot bonus starts from 3% for 3 legs won.

You get a bonus according to this betting offer if you win your accumulator. Mind that cancelled and postponed matches don’t count. When determining your win bonus, the bookmaker excludes the stake from the total payout, to get a clean profit.

Example of betPawa 500% win bonus settlement: if you are eligible for a total payout of 100 RWF from your 10 RWF stake, then 90 RWF is your clean profit (100 minus 10). Now imagine that you won yourself a 10% bonus. In this case, 9 RWF is your bonus, while the actual total payout including your initial stake will be 109 RWF.

Payment options assured by bookmaker

Funding your virtual account at betPawa is the step prior to staking, while getting paid out is an act of withdrawing your precious moneys from the online bookmaker.

The company tends to work with all the biggest mobile money operators in each country, while a payout is requested via either the same mobile money or to a bank.

The methods of betPawa deposit in Rwanda are:

• Airtel Money
• MTN MoMo

A withdrawal is available via mobile money too.

Currency of account

The currency of your virtual account on the Rwandan version of betPawa is Rwandan franc (RWF). There are no other currencies.

What are the methods of sending deposits to betPawa Rwanda?

Now here you are, with your account created in betPawa. So how to deposit?

Read below for the options, the minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts, the maximum withdrawal and deposit limits, and the charges imposed on the payments.

Deposit in Rwanda: Airtel Money, MTN MoMo

All the Rwandan payment options are online, so you will need to sign in to the bookmaker to use them. Pay the bookie either with Airtel Money or MTN MoMo.

After you log in, proceed to your account and input the needed sum, after which press DEPOSIT. Complete the transaction by approving the request on your phone.

The minimum deposit on betPawa in Rwanda is 10 RWF for MTN and 100 RWF for Airtel. The deposit maximum for one-time payment equals 1,000,000 RWF.

Our experience of money withdrawals from betPawa Rwanda

This online bookmaker offers withdrawal online either to mobile money wallets or via a bank transfer depending on the country where the customer resides. The BetPawa withdrawal rules stipulate that a bettor can withdraw whenever he likes starting with a minimum amount stated below, but may be asked to pass KYC/AML.

Here is how to withdraw from your betting account with betPawa in Rwanda:

1. Log in to the official website and proceed to the “Withdrawal” page.
2. Input your personal and financial information (if asked).
3. Input the amount needed and tap REQUEST WITHDRAWAL.

The minimum withdrawal limit in betPawa Rwanda is 100 RWF. The maximum amount of money a Rwandan bettor can withdraw is 1,000,000 RWF.

Typically, bank and mobile money withdrawals are processed in 15 minutes by the bookie. It may also take additional processing by your bank.

How to bet on betPawa Rwanda online

This online bookmaker has limited sports for wagering with only a few most popular, but on the other hand there are virtual sports and games such as slots. The amount of betting markets is average, but the most popular bets are offered for sure.

The odds are average to low, with a margin of around 5% on top football.

The minimum stake fixed by betPawa Rwanda is 1 RWF only. It is great for newbies.

The maximum stake differs based on the event you are betting on and the chosen bet.

The maximum winnings from a single bet at betPawa Rwanda are 1,000,000 RWF. The maximum payout in Rwanda from a multi-match bet (excluding bonus) is 35,000,000 RWF.

On betPawa, the time a payout takes for pending bets is minutes if the match in question was finished as planned and there are no issues with your wager. However, the bookmaker settles open wagers based on the official results. So your pick may stay in pending bets for a time longer than expected, until the results are out.

Placing an online bet with betPawa Rwanda: on sports and virtuals

One can make predictions for football and more sports either through the website on mobile and desktop or using the application. Read below for instructions.

Here is how to play betPawa in a few simple steps:

1. Visit the website or the app and log in.
2. Pick the sport from the menu (such as football).
3. Tap on the event you wish to wager on.
4. Tap on the odds of the desired bet to enter it into the bet slip.
5. Check out your coupon and state how much you want to stake.
6. Tap on PLACE BET when you are all set.

If you want to bet multiples, just add more selections to your bet slip. The maximum allowed number of legs (e.g. matches) in an accumulator is 45 at this sportsbook.

Virtual sports are also open for gambling. Here is how to bet on virtuals:

1. Pick “Virtual Sports” from the menu.
2. Pick one of the virtual leagues: English, Spanish, French, Italian or German.
3. Choose a virtual game and pick a 1x2 outcome.
4. Enter the amount you want to stake to the bet slip.
5. Tap on PLACE BET.

If you want to do a coupon check for placed bets, visit your betPawa betting account.

Selection of sporting disciplines and tournaments

There are only three sports on betPawa:

• Football
• Basketball
• Tennis

You pick sports by selecting a particular one in the menu.

With the choice of sporting disciplines being extremely slim, there is a fine coverage of tournaments you can bet on here. The UEFA Champions League and the Europa League, the English Premier League, La Liga Primera, German Bundesliga 1, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, the MLS are to be found among the very top competitions.

Tens of countries and tournaments in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas are offered. Bet on clashes of African football clubs and of national teams!

Basketball tournaments are also present in a normal quantity: the NBA is accompanied by European, South American, Asian and African competitions. The internationals are present such as the FIBA Basketball World Cup and Euroleague.

Tennis is also well represented with ATP and WTA 1000, 500 and 250 series, Challenger and, for sure, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. At the time of writing Takebet Rwanda hasn’t found ITF tournaments.

Most popular bets and other betting markets

The assortment of wagers is average, with all the popular bets present. You can find a 2 way handicap alongside outcome picks. Top football bets at betPawa include:

• 1x2 (match and by half)
• Double chance (match and by half)
• Over/Under goals (match and by half)
• Exact match goal totals
• Draw no bet
• 2- and 3-way handicaps
• Both teams to score
• Clean sheet and win to nil
• Half time/Full time
• Odd/even score
• Correct score

Combo singles such as 1x2 plus BTTS are also among the most popular bets. At the time of writing, we couldn’t find bets on statistics such as cards and goalscorer picks.

Basketball provides punters with scarce betting options. One can wager on moneyline (1x2) in a match, a half or a quarter and bet on half time 1x2. O/U point totals in a match, a half and a quarter alongside handicaps are offered. That’s it.

In tennis, the assortment is rather small with only 1x2, totals (O/U and exact) alongside handicaps. Here Takebet Rwanda also missed prop bets on statistics.

How do odds pay out at betPawa Rwanda?

This sportsbook offers low odds to its customers.

The margins start at around 4-4.5% for top football matches and most popular betting markets such as 1x2, while reaching the level of around 9% for other events.

Platform for live bets

This bookmaker provides its users with an in-play section. Punters can wager on events as they occur in all three sports available — football, basketball and tennis.

Using the live betting product of betPawa for football, you can wager on:

• 1x2 (full time)
• Over/Under (full time)
• Correct score (full time)
• Draw no bet
• Total goals exact
• 3-way handicap

You can also place accumulators on live events with this online sports betting site.

Steps of using cashout

The gambling company allows punters to cash out bets early on, prior to the conclusion of an event you have a bet on, and collect winnings or cap losses.

The cash out feature of betPawa works for the following markets:

• 1X2
• Double chance
• Over/Under (full time)
• Half time/Full time
• 3-way handicap (full time)
• Both teams to score

Their cashout covers most major events in football, basketball and tenn

Here is how to cash out at this bookie:

1. Log in to your account with betPawa.
2. Tap MENU and then access your bets.
3. Click a wager and pick REQUEST CASHOUT.
4. Check out current and available amounts for cashing out. You will have 15 seconds to accept the offer. Otherwise, you will have to request a new one.
5. Tap CONFIRM.

The cashed out money should be credited to your account in a blink of an eye.

Getting betPawa Rwanda app for Android downloaded

There is a new betPawa mobile app for Android, but no iPhone application.

Follow next three steps to download their Android app:

1. Visit the bookie’s website and proceed to the “About” page.
2. Tap GET THE BETPAWA APP. You will get to the special page, where you will need to tap again on the DOWNLOAD app link to get their APK.
3. Install the app for Android after the download is complete.

The size of the application is 2.5 MB and it works for Android 4.4 or newer.

Can’t download? It happens. The company advises to go to your settings and allow downloads from unknown sources. This just might fix the issue for you!

First-hand experience of betting website usage

Safe to say that this online sports betting site offers a simple but enjoyable experience with its easy-to-navigate and uncluttered platform. It is modern too!

There is a desktop version and a mobile website for smartphones.

The site design is sleek, with white background and black text alongside some colour inclusions — mostly green as it is their brand colour. The desktop menu is on the left, where you can pick a sport — and then see all available countries/tournaments.

There is also a search bar at the top which can be used to find a particular event.

By clicking on a competition, you move to all the matches where you can pick a bet — for this just click on the corresponding odds. The bet slip will appear on the right.

On the left-hand side you will also find secondary sections and products:

• Live now: fixtures with in-play betting right now.
• Upcoming: prematch events soon to start.
• Virtual sports: fast bets on virtual football, basketball and tennis.
• Pawa6: a freebet jackpot prediction game.
• Popular: top matches for prematch betting now.

Overview of mobile site in Rwanda

Punters can access their virtual account on any smartphone or tablet.

The address is the same as for the computer version. Access the website and first tap on MENU. In the drop-down choose either to log in or register. The options of paying a deposit as well as withdrawing money are also hidden in this menu.

On the main page, you will see the list of prematch and live football matches alongside odds for 1x2 in all of these games. Tap on a match to access all bets.

Want more? Hit SPORT in the top-left corner for another drop-down menu. Here one can choose sports to place bets on. The list of countries and tournaments below will adjust accordingly. Also in this menu you will find the live section, the sections with upcoming and popular events, virtual sports, access to Pawa6, jackpots and games.

As being insanely popular, their jackpots and virtual games can also be accessed from the header of the website as well as the main page of the bookie.

This is basically all! A bettor can also use search — for this, tap on the loupe icon.

Contacting customer support in Rwanda

The company is ready to help its current and potential customers via 24/7 support.

One option is to request a call on their website: response is promised within 15 minutes. The live chat at betPawa was sadly not available at the time of writing this review.

5 things about betPawa you should know before betting

There are few interesting and useful things that you should learn about betPawa:

1. The company was established in 2014 by foreign tech leaders as a solely African bookmaker targeting countries across the whole continent. The bookie operates in nine African states as of July 2022 and is expanding.
2. There is a huge 500% win bonus for accumulators starting with three legs.
3. There is a free-to-play jackpot game Pawa6 with huge prizes. In most of the countries the bookie also provides paid jackpots with even bigger prizes.
4. Virtual sports and, in some countries, slots and roulette are on offer.
5. As a part of its “Win BIG, Give Back” charity campaign, betPawa awarded hundreds of thousands of additional winnings to people willing to help their local African communities: for example, in April 2022 Rophus Mwachia — a Kenyan water plant engineer — was awarded 700,000 KES on top of his 211,896.09 KES winning from a 24-leg accumulator. He promised to complete a water borehole for his village — and delivered the water supply as due.

Pros

There are enough positives about betPawa. First of all, it lets you start small — the minimum stake is tiny. The website is simple and intuitive, there are only top sports and the most popular bets to choose from, plus a free-to-play jackpot Pawa6.

As newbie bettors love accumulators, the only bonus betPawa offers is a win bonus — up to 500% on top of your winning multiples. What’s more? A cash out. Also, they let you bet on virtual football.

One can as well enjoy live betting to gamble when matches are ongoing.

There is also a new app, an Android one, you can download from the betPawa site.

Cons

The disadvantages are pretty fundamental and will be spotted by more experienced bettors. The choice of sports is one of the most scarce in the business — only football, tennis and basketball. And while there are enough competitions to call their choice normal, the diversity of bets is average in football and low in other sports.

While there are virtuals, only football was on offer at the time of writing this review.

There is no live broadcasting of sports and no iPhone betting app. There is no live chat with specialists, and messengers are available only in a few countries.

Also, Takebet Rwanda hasn’t discovered a website for old mobile feature phones.

Conclusions about the bookmaker

To conclude our betPawa review, at Takebet Rwanda we call this sports betting site the perfect African bookie for newbies. Why? It offers all that makes betting fun, creates a core of it and removes everything else. This simplicity, which also transitioned to their website design, makes it insanely popular. This is the place to start, but while gaining experience in betting, you might feel that you are lacking more and more.