Director-General of the National Lottery Authority, Mr. Samuel Awuku will this week make a case on the need for collaborative games among West African nations.
Mr. Awuku is the keynote speaker at a joint community lottery conference for francophone countries slated for Monday 20th September to Saturday 25th September 2021in Abidjan.
This was made known during a working visit to the Republic of La Cote d’Ivoire on the invitation of Mr. Dramane Coulibaly, Director-General of the Loterie Nationale de Cote d’Ivoire (LONACI) to foster good relations and build stronger ties with Ghana.
Mr. Coulibaly who conducted Mr. Awuku and the NLA team on a tour of the LONACI Draw House paid glowing tribute to NLA for being the originator of the 5/90 fixed odds game in Africa and for sustaining the game over the years.
The LONACI, which is the main Lottery Agency in Ivory Coast uses several draw machines for its operations and has developed interactive games for its patrons.
This culminates into revenue generation of about five hundred and seventy million dollars ($570m) per annum by the Ivorian Lottery industry.
Commending his Ivorian counterpart on the successes chalked, the Director-General of Ghana, Mr. Samuel Awuku mentioned that even though Ghana is highly commended for being the originator of the fixed odds games in Africa, Ivory Coast has overtaken Ghana in its revenue generation.
This, Mr. Awuku believes has been achieved through discipline and the streamlined system of operations.
Citing the importance of sharing ideas, experiences and best practices among institutions in the sub region, the NLA Boss also said it would be imperative for Ghana to learn from the Ivoirians on how they have reduced wastage, leakages and corruption in their system.
He mentioned that back home in Ghana, as part of his resolve to sanitize the lottery industry to generate revenue for government and the Authority, NLA has called on all private lotto operators or persons who want to operate private lottery to take advantage of the open window to register with the Authority and regularize their operations. This exercise is from the 8th to 30th September 2021.
He also hinted that the National Lottery Authority would be procuring new draw machines later in the year for effective use in the beginning of 2022 as the Authority’s draw machines, which are almost 25 years old are outmoded.
The National Lottery Authority has therefore commenced the process to purchase three new draw machines and new sets of balls to improve the efficiency of its draws. This will be preceded by two months of effective stakeholder engagement for them to understand the operationalization of the new machines.
Mr. Awuku also proposed a common game between both countries that will not only whip up excitement but also generate revenue for them.
Director General of LONACI, Mr. Dramane Coulibaly, who also doubles as the President of the Association of African Lotteries, responding to the NLA Boss’ proposal said this will be a game changer for both Authorities and can generate huge funds for them if well designed.
Mr. Coulibaly also urged Ghana to renew its interests and commitment in the African Lotteries Association’s activities and play a key role towards its development.
As a goodwill gesture, he pledged to facilitate the process of admission into the Association and reinstate Ghana as soon as possible.
Ghana lost its membership in the prestigious group after failing to meet several obligations. The NLA Boss thanked Mr. Coulibaly for the gesture and promised to make the NLA an active, and paid-up member going forward to avoid such unfortunate occurrences.
The LONACI Director General also requested The Director General of NLA, Mr. Samuel Awuku to address a joint Community Lottery Conference as the keynote speaker on the need for collaborative games amongst the West African nations.
The joint Community Lottery Conference alternates between francophone countries annually.
These countries include Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Fasso, Mali, Senegal and Niger. The event kicks off Monday 20th to Saturday 25th September 2021 in the Ivorian Capital Abijan.
Mr. Awuku was accompanied by the director of operations of the authority, Dr. George Gyamfi- Osew and Johnson Yaw Adu of the corporate affairs department.