Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, on Friday received a government delegation from the Cote d'Ivoire at the Authority's headquarters in Accra.

The Ivorian delegation, which was led by Mr. Dramane Coulibaly, the Director-General of Loterie Nationale de Cote d'Ivoire (LONACI) was made up of Baba Ouattara, Director of Sales, Yao Kouame, Head of Legal, and Sanogo Elfat, Product Manager.

The delegation visited the Authority to understudy its new business model, ongoing reforms and the success stories of the Authority especially from March 2017 up to date.

A statement signed by the Public Relations Unit of the NLA said the Ivorians chose to understudy Ghana due to the overwhelming credibility and integrity of the country's Lottery Systems.

It said NLA management shared with the Ivorians its  history, new business models, change management processes and its success stories.

The statement said Mr Osei-Ameyaw educated the Ivorians on the Authority's New Business Model which revolves around Digitization and the creation of a Cashlite System through the e-kiosk Concept and Android Point of Sale Terminals.

It said the e-kiosk Concept is a Public-Private Partnership aimed at modernizing the operations of Lottery Business in Ghana and is currently under piloting and set to replace the old wooden Lotto Kiosks across the country.

“The e-kiosk would offer services such as lottery products, banking, mobile money, receiving of remittance, payment of utilities, courier services as well as payment of television fees and partner with Government Agencies such as One District one Factory Secretariat, NABCO Secretariat, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Youth Employment Agency and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies,”it said.

The statement said that through the e-kiosk Project, the NLA has been able to successfully trained some selected NABCO beneficiaries on Assembling, Installation, Servicing and Maintenance of the e-kiosk.

It said in order to monitor the sales and revenue generated in real-time, the NLA has introduced new Point of Sale Terminals known as Android Point of Sale Terminals which has special features to monitor the business of the day as well as ensure transparency and accountability of the process. 

The NLA since its establishment has been responsible for the generation of its own revenue for the day-to-day administration and overall management, and has been responsible for the payment of its employees and technical Service providers and also mandated by Act 722 to pay fund to Central Government through the Consolidated Fund for National Development.

It said the Authority through collaboration has introduced lottery market products such as the NLA VAG 5/90 Lotto, in collaboration with the Veterans Administration Ghana and Act 844, and Super 6 and Lucky 3 Dividend Games, in collaboration with the Private Sector.

“Plans are far advanced to hopefully introduced before the end of the year, the VAT Lottery, in collaboration with the GRA, the Otumfuo Scratch Cards and Raffle, in collaboration with the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and Manhyia Palace," it added.

The statement said, as part of the efforts to achieve African Beyond Aid, Mr Osei-Ameyaw has spearheaded the formation of the West African Lottery Association (WALA).

It said the WALA seeks to bring all Lottery Authorities in West Africa  under one umbrella similar to the model of the World Lottery Association.

The statement revealed that the Association aims to promote regional co-operation and partnership among member organizations and share international best practices.

It said the leadership of the LONACI on behalf of the Ivorian Government expressed  appreciation to Mr Osei-Ameyaw and the management of the NLA for the education and free consultancy. 

The statement said LONACI, expressed their readiness to partner and learn from Ghana since the NLA is a great example when it comes to Lottery business, regulation and operations.

It said the Ivorian delegation were coming on board fully to register as a member of WALA being spearheaded by Mr Osei-Ameyaw.