Hedging your bets

Eight months ago, BetCRIS, a Costa Rican based company, set up shop in Rwanda. This was for one simple reason: to introduce sports betting in the country, something that was hitherto unheard of in Rwanda. But what would inspire a company from Costa Rica, a country that not many people in Rwanda could easily locate on the world map, to set up shop in Rwanda? Even in Costa Rica, as the company’s CEO in Rwanda Andreas Blanco says, not many people can tell where on earth Rwanda is located. Nevertheless, BetCRIS decided a few months ago to come to Rwanda and invest in sports betting. Blanco says that ever since launching operations in Rwanda, they have come to realise how Rwandans like sports and this provides great environment for betting. “With this great love for sports, we want to increase the entertainment enjoyed by people here by bringing a new form of entertainment in form of sports betting,” says Blanco. BetCRIS, went into a partnership with Rwanda Lotto which holds the lottery license in Rwanda. Blanco says that one of the reasons for the partnership is to support sports in the country. Some of the proceeds that are channeled to Rwanda Lotto are for the purposes of supporting sports in the country. Blanco says that the nature of their partnership with Rwanda Lotto is to provide a service to the company that holds the license. “The market in Rwanda is very good and also promising, we expect to succeed and the people are very enthusiastic,” adds Blanco. Blanco continues that the social landscape of Rwanda determines who they target for betting. He says that they have decided to target the two categories of Rwandans; Rwanda has small elite and a majority who may not have much money. “We want to reach every kind of people in Rwanda. We have to cater for all groups,” explains Blanco. Apparently many sports lovers have taken on sports betting with so much gusto. Ruhirwa, an ardent soccer fan, says that he had always wanted to bet to his money where his mouth is. “It is better when they stake money for the arguments people advance all the time,” says Ruhirwa. Betting is obviously a high stakes game. Some people would be scared to death at the prospect of gambling their hard earned cash. However, Blanco says that one can make a lot of money through betting. “When you are good and willing to take risks, you can make a lot of money.” Blanco explaines that the minimum amount of money one can use for betting is $1 which is approximately Frw550. The maximum amount is $5,000. Blanco adds that many people have already made money from betting from BetCRIS. He says that during the recent Rwanda-Morocco game, many people won lots of money. He adds that they paid some people Frw4,000,000. With the world cup nearing, BetCRIS hopes to extend their services to many people in Rwanda and the region. “We want everybody to access our services,” adds Blanco. But because Rwanda offers a lot of opportunities to investors, they plan to maintain their headquarters in Kigali.However, doing this kind of business in Rwanda has not been without challenges. Blanco says that they sometimes encounter a problem of slow internet which at times is unstable. This hinders their operations since all points of sale are connected to the internet and to the headquarters in Costa Rica. But with the government making great efforts to put in place high speed internet connectivity, this problem will be a bygone soon. Blanco says that by using ICT, one can also bet online. This can be enabled by opening an account on the BetCRIS website. One can thenbet by putting money on the BetCRIS bank account and then when you win, they send money to your account. Betting is going to take new dimensions when SMS betting is introduced. Blanco says this will help to supplement on the several betting points they have in Kigali. In six months, this new innovation will be in place and the money will be deducted from airtime. According to Blanco, those who will be winning through SMS betting will have to go to the point of sell to claim their money. He adds that they plan to up the stakes in sports betting by going into cricket in addition to the popular soccer betting. Martin Rubibi, a cricket fan, says that he can’t wait to see BetCRIS or any other betting group venturing into this area. He says that he has used to be involved in horse racing betting and cricket betting when he lived in England more than ten years ago. This is a great opportunity for him to reawaken his old love, he enthuses. Ends