Betway is celebrating 10 years in Ghana after a decade of sponsorship, talent development and community projects that have extended well beyond football.
The company arrived in the country in 2016, initially becoming a prominent presence in the domestic sporting landscape. Over the following decade, its work has included partnerships with Ghana Premier League clubs, support for women’s football, programmes for former players and young talent, and investment in communities with limited access to resources.
As an ambassador for Betway throughout that period, I have witnessed the company’s activities at close range. What stands out most is how its work has increasingly focused on using sport to create opportunities, strengthen skills and reach communities that do not always attract significant attention.
Support for football and the people behind it
Betway has sponsored Ghana Premier League clubs including Medeama, Aduana Stars and AshantiGold at different stages of the competition’s recent history.
However, its contribution to football has not been limited to shirt sponsorship or association with a competition. Its support for the Women’s Premier League included the provision of equipment and kits, as well as workshops for players and officials.
Those sessions involved specialists in marketing, coaching and nutrition. The approach reflected the importance of developing not only teams and competitions but also the people responsible for making the sport function effectively.
A similar principle was evident in the Betway 12th Man project, delivered with former Ghana captain Stephen Appiah.
The initiative was aimed at retired footballers who had spent much of their lives preparing for and playing the game before having to adjust to life after retirement. Through workshops covering marketing, personal branding, punditry and other subjects, participants were given tools intended to help them establish second careers.
That programme was particularly significant because footballers often dedicate everything to the sport without receiving enough preparation for what comes next.
Stephen Appiah was also involved in the Betway Talent Search, which focused on identifying promising young players in communities across Ghana. The programme gave talented footballers the chance to be seen and potentially secure international exposure with clubs outside the country.
The initiative also included training sessions, workshops and donations of equipment. As a result, its value was not dependent solely on whether an individual player eventually earned a move abroad. Communities could still benefit through better resources, increased knowledge for coaches and greater confidence among young participants.
Expanding beyond football
Betway’s sporting activities have also included basketball, with support for teams, clinics and equipment provided to local clubs across Ghana.
Its community-focused Betway Up programme broadened that work further. The initiative used sport and other forms of support to assist communities, including Ghana’s amputee national teams, which received equipment and training.
Investment in para sport is particularly important because athletes who require the greatest support are not always those who receive the most visibility or resources. Sport can unite people, but it can also reveal inequalities in access and opportunity.
The company’s impact has extended beyond sporting facilities as well. Through Betway Cares, it provided two solar-powered charging stations to communities in the Greater Accra Region that previously had no access to electricity.
While such a project may attract less attention than a football sponsorship, its effect can be immediate for the people who rely on it.
In 2025, the Betway Tumu Cup brought more than 20 communities in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region together for a day of community football and engagement.
Community football is often more than a match, particularly outside Ghana’s major cities. It can provide a meeting point, strengthen relationships and give young people a positive organised activity. The tournament also took large-scale corporate engagement to an area that is not always at the centre of such initiatives.
After a decade, Betway’s Ghana journey can be traced from professional and women’s football to retired players, emerging talent, basketball and amputee football. It has also reached communities such as Tumu.
No corporate social responsibility programme can address every challenge facing Ghanaian sport or society, and no brand gets everything right. But 10 years provides enough perspective to identify a clear pattern: an increasing emphasis on creating opportunities and building capacity.
For me, the anniversary is therefore more than a corporate milestone. Having carried Betway’s message, spoken about its programmes and helped tell some of its stories, I have also seen the difference between discussing impact and delivering support directly in communities.
The next question is not only what Betway has achieved in Ghana over the past decade, but what the next 10 years might bring.
