betPawa aims to bring 10,000 athletes into its Locker Room bonus by 2026
Building on a breakthrough 2025, betPawa is scaling its performance-linked payout initiative to reshape African sport and professionalise leagues across the continent.
Malawi.- betPawa is aiming to bring a total of 10,000 African athletes into its Locker Room Bonus scheme by 2026, building on successful rollouts in Malawi, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon and Tanzania in 2025. The initiative rewards both players and technical staff with performance-linked payouts, reshaping competition, professionalising leagues and strengthening match data collection across the continent.
The Locker Room Bonus covers multiple sports, including basketball and football, and is powered by pawaTech, the parent company of betPawa, which provides the technology and payment infrastructure for managing and distributing the bonuses.
pawaTech said: “Built with pawaPass (pawaTech’s digital platform for secure, instant payments), we pay African athletes directly to their wallets based on team performance. This boosts competition in African leagues and improves match data collection. Our ambition is to bring a minimum of 10,000 athletes to the locker room bonus by 2026.”
In 2025, the initiative made significant inroads across multiple countries. It kicked off in Malawi’s Regional Women’s Football League in April, marking the first-ever deployment for a women’s league. Players and technical staff received instant mobile money payments for victories, with a total investment of MWK273,24m ($157,000) across 270 official matches. The approach was extended throughout the season, ensuring consistent, performance-linked payouts for women’s teams.
The Locker Room Bonus quickly expanded into other sports and markets. It was introduced in Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam Basketball League in May, paying men’s and women’s squads a fixed bonus per win. Ghana followed suit with both men’s and women’s Premier Leagues, where pawaTech launched a digital platform to streamline payments, allowing clubs to submit team sheets and instantly disburse mobile money to winning squads.
Expanding across sports and borders in 2025
By September, Nigeria’s National League (NNL) became the next beneficiary, with matchday squads and technical staff receiving rewards for performance. Cameroon also marked its Francophone debut, further cementing LRB’s presence across the continent.
In November, betPawa celebrated the end of Uganda’s National Basketball League (NBL) season by awarding a total of UGX 16.12m (€3,436) in locker room bonuses, finals MVP prizes and championship rewards.
These initiatives highlight pawaTech’s ambition to professionalise African sport while supporting athletes at all levels, particularly women, youth and lower-division players who often face delayed or inconsistent payment.
Beyond direct financial support, the scheme also helps collect match data, which can give clubs and federations useful insights into team performance, player development and game strategy.
With a bold 10,000-athlete target by 2026, pawaTech is positioning the Locker Room Bonus as a transformative force in African sport, combining innovation, transparency and care to create a model for the future of continental leagues.
