Review of most branched African bookmaker — betPawa in Kenya

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 Kenya — only 1 Kenyan shilling 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. Also, there are jackpots in Kenya and the Hall of Fame for exceptionally big winners.

But is it worth it to bet on sports at betPawa? Experts of Takebet Kenya 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 Kenya, 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 betting site 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 Kenya at www.betpawa.co.ke as this is the official Kenyan website of the bookmaker. The language of this online sports betting site is English, with no Kiswahili for Kenya at the time of writing this review.

Welcome offer	No
Deposit options	M-Pesa, M-Pesa (USSD)
Withdrawal options	M-Pesa
Currency	KES
Sports	Football, basketball, tennis
Odds	Low
Jackpot	Yes
Cashout	Yes
SMS betting	No
USSD betting	No
Mobile app	Android
Livestreaming	No
Live chat	No
Support email	ke@betpawa.com
Support tel	+254711082233

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 designation of betPawa Kenya is Nanovas International (K) Ltd (Gaming International Limited), with the Kenyan BCLB license #BK000353.

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 Kenya 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 Kenya!

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 Kenya 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 Kenya 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 Kenya, 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 Kenya.
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 Kenya. 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 Kenya 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 Kenya 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 Kenya 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 Kenya is 2,500,000 KES (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.

Selections	Bonus
Three	3%
Four	5%
Five	10%
Six	15%
Seven	20%
Eight	25%
Nine	30%
Ten	35%
Eleven	40%
Twelve	45%
Thirteen	50%
Fourteen	55%
Fifteen	60%
Sixteen	65%
Seventeen	75%
Eighteen	80%
Nineteen	90%
Twenty	100%
Twenty-one	110%
Twenty-two	120%
Twenty-three	130%
Twenty-four	140%
Twenty-five	150%
Twenty-six	160%
Twenty-seven	170%
Twenty-eight	185%
Twenty-nine	195%
Thirty	210%
Thirty-one	225%
Thirty-two	240%
Thirty-three	255%
Thirty-four	270%
Thirty-five	290%
Thirty-six	305%
Thirty-seven	320%
Thirty-eight	340%
Thirty-nine	360%
Fourty	380%
Forty-one	400%
Forty-two	420%
Forty-three	450%
Forty-four	475%
Forty-five	500%

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 KES from your 10 KES stake, then 90 KES is your clean profit (100 minus 10). Now imagine that you won yourself a 10% bonus. In this case, 9 KES is your bonus, while the actual total payout including your initial stake will be 109 KES.

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 Kenya are:

• M-Pesa
• M-Pesa (USSD)

A withdrawal is available via mobile money too.

Currency of account

The currency of your virtual account on the Kenyan version of betPawa is Kenyan shilling (KES). There are no other currencies.

What are the methods of sending deposits to betPawa Kenya?

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 Kenya: M-Pesa online and USSD

The only payment channel of the Kenyan betPawa is M-Pesa at the time of writing. However, an online sports bettor can use it both online and for a USSD deposit.

To make a deposit via M-Pesa online, log in via the Kenyan website version to access your betting account. There you pick the amount you are ready to pay and tap on DEPOSIT. Confirm the transaction — and you are all set to bet!

For the next method, remember the paybill number 290020 for betPawa in Kenya.

Follow these steps to pay money to the bookie in Kenya via M-Pesa USSD:

1. Ring *334# or access the M-Pesa menu.
2. Pick “Lipa na M-PESA” and then pick “Pay Bill”.
3. Input the business code 290020 and then input the account name PAWA.
4. Input the needed sum of money and then input the PIN.
5. Watch out for the confirmation message.

The minimum deposit is 1 KES in betPawa Kenya. The maximum limit is 70,000 KES.

Deposit	Min limit	Max limit	Time	Charges
M-Pesa	1 KES	70k KES	Instant	Trans. fee
M-Pesa USSD	1 KES	70k KES	Instant	Trans. fee

Our experience of money withdrawals from betPawa Kenya

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.

Now this is how you can withdraw from betPawa in Kenya:

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 Kenya is 100 KES.

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

Withdrawal	Min limit	Max limit	Time	Charges
M-Pesa	100 KES	Vary	15 minutes	N/A

Guide on all betting options and their usage

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.

Their minimum stake is fixed at 1 KES only in Kenya. 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 a single bet are 100,000 KES on betPawa Kenya, while the maximum winning limit from a multi-match bet (excluding bonus) is 3,600,000 KES.

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 Kenya: 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 Kenya 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 Kenya also missed prop bets on statistics.

How do odds pay out at betPawa Kenya?

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.

Sport	Tournament	Match	1	X	2	Margin
Football	Premier League	Chelsea vs Crystal Palace	1.21	6.75	13.50	4.8%
Basketball	NBA	Bucks vs Suns	1.45	-	2.60	7.4%
Tennis	ATP Amersfoort	Djere vs Rublev	2.75	-	1.39	8.3%

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 tennis.

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.

Testing jackpot games in Kenya

Whenever you feel like you want a bigger fish to fry, the famous betPawa jackpot is what you want! At the time of writing the review, this game was available in all countries of service except for Rwanda and DR Congo. However, this may change.

There are five jackpot games on offer:

• Pick20 (statistics)
• Pick17 (1x2)
• Pick15 (teams to score)
• Pick13 (1x2)
• Pick10 (statistics)

To participate, you pay for a ticket. The basic ticket price for each jackpot pool is 5 KES in Kenya. It is paid if only one outcome is picked for each match.

If you choose more than one outcome for a single event, then you pay a higher price. Each additional combination is adding another fixed ticket price to what you pay. For example, if in one of the jackpot matches you pick two outcomes simultaneously instead of one, then you will pay for two tickets as you pick two combinations.

So how to win a jackpot in betPawa? Let’s review each of these games in short.

Pick17 Jackpot (1x2)

One of the most high-paying, this game dares you to guess a total of 17 outcomes in the given matches. To get the jackpot or at least share it with another lucky guy, you have to predict all 17 games correctly. Comforting prizes are given for 16, 15, 14 and 13 results guessed correctly. These prizes may vary each new round.

The jackpot for Pick 17 equals 5,000,000 KES (as of July 2022).

Pick15 Jackpot (teams to score)

One that is different, the Pick15 Jackpot from betPawa lets you guess if the teams will score and how many teams will. The options are: no goals, one to score and both to score. Consolation prizes are given for 14 and 13 correct predictions.

The jackpot bonus for Pick 15 is 400,000 KES (as of July 2022).

Pick13 Jackpot (1x2)

One of those pools lower on risk, this jackpot offers you to pick the outcomes of 13 football matches. To win the jackpot or share it with someone, you must get all 13 outcomes right. There are comforting prizes for 12, 11 and 10 correct picks.

The jackpot prize for Pick 13 is 1,000,000 KES (as of June 2022).

More info on jackpots

Want to know how to win a jackpot? Mind these main options and rules of betPawa:

• Rarely punters can play Pick20 and Pick10, in which you predict the statistics of football matches. For the Pick20 pool, prizes start at 16 correct picks.
• Jackpot rollover may be used at the discretion of the company, in which case the jackpots of past weeks which were not given away are accumulated.
• Punters have until the kick-off of the first match to submit their predictions.
• Only regulation time for each fixture is taken into account plus added minutes of both halves. No extra halves or penalty shootouts are included.
• If a match is postponed, the online bookmaker may wait for a maximum of 24 hours before applying the result of the game above on the list — to this very match. However, the jackpot is cancelled if over 50% of games go this way.
• Use the “Lucky Dip” feature from time to time: it chooses a random combination of outcomes and lets you get your mind off things.
• To check how much is the jackpot this week, just visit the website of betPawa!

Getting betPawa Kenya 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.
• Jackpot: currently available jackpot games and the archive of results.
• Popular: top matches for prematch betting now.

Overview of mobile site in Kenya

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.

To access your bet slip, tap on the corresponding icon in the top-right corner.

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

Contacting customer support in Kenya

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 on betPawa was sadly not available at the time of writing this review.

Contacts	Phone	Email	Messenger
Kenya	+254711082233	ke@betpawa.com	N/A

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 jackpots (including one free-to-play).

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 Kenya hasn’t discovered a website for old mobile feature phones.

Conclusions about the bookmaker

To conclude our betPawa review, at Takebet Kenya 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.