IBIA increases African integrity each with betPawa’s parent pawaTech

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has strengthened its presence in Africa by granting membership to pawaTech, the sportsbook technology company and licensor of betPawa. 

The company provides solutions and licences the betPawa brand to 17 countries across Africa, meaning the deal will provide the IBIA with a significant new source of information to monitor as it seeks to identify suspicious betting patterns and integrity breaches. 

As part of the agreement, pawaTech will give the IBIA access to its betting integrity data as it bolsters its commitment to responsible betting, fraud prevention and safeguarding sports betting integrity.

Khalid Ali, IBIA’s CEO, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome pawaTech to IBIA. The company’s unique African operational footprint and technology infrastructure bring valuable regional market knowledge and monitoring coverage to our association. 

“This partnership further strengthens our global network and supports our shared goal of protecting the integrity of sport and regulated betting markets.”

The IBIA’s role is to bring together betting operators globally to combat corruption in sports betting. Some of its best-known members include bet365, betway, LeoVegas and Unibet.

This latest move is significant as the number of African operators that hold IBIA memberships is very limited. The only other is BetKing, which is live in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Ghana.

Africa’s top betting markets

Africa has one of the fastest-growing sports betting markets, with its value expected to reach $3.08bn in 2025 and a compound annual growth rate of 4% from 2025 to 2029. The number of bettors is also expected to amount to 27.5 million in the next four years, according to Statista.

Nigeria in particular has around 60 million active bettors, making it the largest base of sports bettors on the continent and italone is projected to generate over $3.63bn in revenue by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, PawaTech’s headquarters is located in Nairobi, Kenya – another notable market of rapid growth. A recent IBIA increases African integrity each with betPawa’s parent pawaTechsuggests that 79% of Kenyans engage in online betting, and also wager around KSh 2.1bn (£13m) per day altogether.

On the IBIA membership, Juri Sidorenko, CEO of pawaTech, said: “Joining IBIA reflects our commitment to fair play, integrity and safer betting. We are proud to support a trusted ecosystem that makes betting more secure, transparent and player-friendly across Africa.”