What Is Bikapo? A Beginner's Guide

A prediction market is a question with a deadline. People put money on the outcome they think will happen, and the crowd's money shows what the group believes.

Bikapo is that market for Zambia. You deposit money, pick the side you believe, and share one pool with everyone else on the question. When that side happens, you take your share of what is left.

Bikapo is a place to trade on things that are about to be decided: a match, an election, an award, a price, the weather. Each market is a question. You choose the outcome you think will happen and put money on it.

You are not buying a share from Bikapo, and Bikapo is not betting against you. Your money joins everyone else's. When the market closes, the platform keeps a small fee and pays the rest to the winning side, in proportion to what each person placed.

Call it right and that share is yours. In the example below, K100 on the winning side comes back as about K137.

Forget a stock price or a bookmaker's line. A Bikapo market is one pool of money and two or more outcomes. Here is the same example the product uses.

Start with a question: will Zambia win their next match? Before you arrive, other people have already put K400 on Yes and K200 on No.

You add K100 to Yes. The pool is now K500 on Yes, K200 on No, K700 in total. At close, the fee on that pool is K14. K686 is left for the winning side.

Yes happens. Your K100 is one fifth of that side, so you take about K137 home. That is your money back, plus about K37.

K137 is what the pool is showing you now. More money on No grows what you take home. The number locks when the market closes.

If a market never gets enough money on both sides, everyone is refunded in full. Balances are in Zambian kwacha.

Markets are questions with a close time and a written rule for how they resolve. The categories you will see are the ones people in Zambia already follow.

• Football

  Match winners and other football questions.

• Basketball

  Games and tournaments people are already arguing about.

• Politics

  Elections, appointments, and other public outcomes.

• Culture

  Awards, music, and what people are watching.

• Econ

  Prices, rates, and the numbers that move the kwacha.

• Tech

  Product launches and other technology milestones.

• Weather

  Rain, heat, and other forecasts you can check.

Read the rule on the market before you place. That page says what counts as Yes, what counts as No, and which source Bikapo will use when it resolves.

It can look like sports betting. On Bikapo, the people who are right share the pool. That is the whole product.

This is real money. You must be at least 18, or the age of majority where you live. Deposits and withdrawals use mobile money. Your balance is for trading on Bikapo. It is not a bank account.

Each market pays out under the rule written on that market. The winning side splits what is left. Bikapo does not give investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Participation is subject to eligibility and the Terms of Use.

1. 1

   Create an account

   Sign in with your email. You need to be at least 18. Bikapo will send a code to confirm it is you.

2. 2

   Add money

   Deposit with mobile money on MTN, Airtel, or Zamtel. That balance is what you use to join a market. You can withdraw the same way.

3. 3

   Pick a side and a stake

   Open a market and read the question, the close time, and the rules. Choose the outcome you think will happen, then add the amount you want in the pool.

4. 4

   Take your share

   Your projected return keeps moving until the market closes. When your side happens, your share is paid to your balance, and you can withdraw it.

Bikapo is a way to put money on something you actually believe, with other people on the other side of the same question. The pool, the fee, and the split are the whole thing. Call it right, and you take your share home.

This page explains the product. It is not financial advice.