NLA penetrates Ivory Coast, Nigeria to rake in GHS31m

“My initial trips to Ivory Coast and Nigeria would now pay off as both countries will soon pay us royalties of Eighteen Million Ghana Cedis (GHS 18,000,000.00) and Thirteen Million Ghana Cedis (GHS 13,000,000.00) respectively, for drawing our Games online through KGL Group,” he said.

He made the remarks during a presentation at the state of specified entities report briefing, where he highlighted a number of significant gains the NLA has chalked under his leadership.

During the presentation, he mentioned that the Authority has gained global recognition due to some bold steps he took upon assuming office.

“One of the first things we did was together with Management, embark on trips to neighbouring countries like Ivory Coast to find out what they were doing differently to boost their revenue, learn from them and incorporate it into our operations. We noticed that in communities all over the country, there was a project sponsored by proceeds from the lottery, and we sought to implement the same.

“Mr. Dramane Coulibaly, the Director-General of the Loterie Nationale de Côte d’Ivoire (LONACI), also doubles as the President of the African Lotteries Association(ALA). I leveraged this to get the NLA back into the Association after being kicked out a couple of years ago for non-payment of dues and not conforming to some regulations.

“The NLA is now a member of ALA and is working on its Certification for Responsible Gaming. I also visited Nigeria to meet Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, the Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Council, to discuss the payment of royalties to Ghana, since they have been for using our draw Numbers for the past twenty five years.These trips indeed yielded results that I will go into and discuss further when I get to our second achievement, Raising Revenue,” he said.

Additionally, he mentioned that the authority has been able to clear a chunk of its debt, and also raise more revenue.

“I met a debt of about Fifteen million Ghana Cedis (GHS 15,000.000.00) in unpaid wins on the assumption of office. As of now, we have cleared a greater part of the debt and we continue to make efforts together with Management to clear the outstanding debt. We have developed the Instant Pay *389*1000# for players to instantly redeem wins of up to One Thousand Two Hundred Ghana Cedis (GHS 1,2000) after the Draw.

“In partnership with our Corporate Lotto Marketing Companies (LMCs), we have also instituted Prize Payment Centers in our Regional offices nationwide for wins up to Twelve Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS 12,000.00),” he added.

The authority has also been keenly supporting society through its Good Causes Foundation which is the charity arm of the Authority, spearheading our Corporate Social Responsibility.

In line with Section 2(3) of the National Lotto Act – stipulates that conduct, as part of the operation of National Lotto, a lottery to provide care and protection for the physically or mentally afflicted, the needy, the aged, orphans, and destitute children, the authority has embarked on Medical Outreaches in various communities such as Korle-Wokon, Somanya and Sunyani; donated Medical Equipment (incubators) to the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital in collaboration with the Kokrokoo Foundation and Hope Exchange Hospital in Kumasi, refurbished the Tema Polyclinic Recovery Ward, Koforidua Central Hospital Children’s Ward; provided brilliant but needy students with scholarships; refurbished schools including the Mamfe Presby Primary School, Gonten Primary School and also established an IT Lab in collaboration with Ask Ghana for schools in the Agona West Municipality, among other commendable deeds.