April 26, 2025 – Lilongwe, Malawi

It was the kind of day that doesn’t just mark a milestone, it shifts the playing field altogether.

Yesterday in Lilongwe, history was made as betPawa officially launched the Locker Room Bonus (LRB) in partnership with the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), introducing the direct-pay initiative to the country’s newly established Regional Women’s Football League.

This isn’t just a story about sponsorship. It’s a story about showing up for women, for sports, and for every young girl in Malawi who has ever dared to dream beyond the sidelines. 

A First for Malawi. A First for Africa.

This is the first time the Locker Room Bonus, betPawa’s flagship sports impact program, has been deployed to support a women’s league anywhere on the continent. And Malawi is where the bar has been set.

Through this partnership, $157,000+ (MWK 273,240,000) will be injected directly into the game, rewarding players and technical staff across 270 official league matches with instant win bonuses. That means no paperwork delays, no waiting weeks for recognition,  just pure performance-based reward, paid via mobile money before players even leave the pitch.

For every win, each team will receive MWK 1,012,000, with MWK 44,000 going to 23 players and 3 staff members. It’s direct. It’s fast. And it’s already in motion.

The Launch: Football, Laughter, and Instant Payouts

To mark the occasion, a demo match was staged in Lilongwe to show exactly how the Locker Room Bonus works. Players, a mix of young talents, influencers and community faces, suited up, played their hearts out and moments after the final whistle, watched their mobile phones light up with MWK 17,300 transfers.

It was a simple message, demonstrated in real time: “You win. You get paid.”

The event itself had the energy of something bigger than a press conference but warmer than a launch, more like a rally for change, with football boots and purpose.

Key figures from the sports and development space were in attendance, along with media, youth representatives, and local officials. But it was the players in the shootout, a lively mix of influencers, opinion leaders, and football lovers, who stole the show. Laughing, cheering, hyping each other up with every kick, they turned a simple penalty shootout into a moment of pure joy and purpose.

Speaking at the launch, betPawa’s Head of CSR & Sports Development, Raquel Puig, summed it up perfectly:

“We talk a lot about empowering women in sports, but too often it stops at hashtags and headlines. What we’re doing here with the Football Association of Malawi is different. We’re putting money directly into players’ hands, rewarding performance, raising the bar, and backing belief with action.”

Speaking on behalf of President Haiya, Football Association of Malawi Vice President Madalitso Kuyera described it as a major step toward transforming the football landscape. 

“This sponsorship is more than funding, it is motivation. It shows players and coaches that the world is watching. We are deeply grateful to betPawa for this bold commitment to women’s football”

Why It Matters

Malawi’s women’s football scene has long been fueled by passion, what it has lacked is infrastructure, investment, and most of all, recognition. The Locker Room Bonus doesn’t fix everything, but it does something powerful: it shows up where it matters.

What’s Next?

This launch kicks off a broader mission. Malawi joins a growing list of countries — including Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda — where betPawa is rolling out LRB across football and basketball. But this moment, right here in Lilongwe, will always be a first.