Finance minister Kwadwo Baah- Wiredu has congratulated the management of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) for its innovative ideas including the launch of a new mobile lottery game (MOBI GAME), noting that its potential of boosting revenue is commendable. Mr. Baah-Wiredu says revenue from the Mobi-Game and other activities of the NLA would help generate more income to deal with the current surge in crude oil and food prices. The NLA has launched a new mobile lottery game it says creates more convenience for the public in staking lottery to boost state revenue. Known as the Mobi-Game, 2 Sure, it provides lottery fans the opportunity to predict any two numbers between one and 90 via SMS text messaging to win 100 Ghana cedis daily. It will cost only one Ghana cedis to play the game, and players are required to text their predictions between 0800 and 1800 hours through short code 1388 for MTN and 5900 for Onetouch and Kasapa subscribers. Director-General of NLA, Kojo Andah in his address said the product is among several interventions introduced by the NLA to tap opportunities in the mobile telecommunication industry and enable them meet their revenue target. He said with the introduction of the new Lottery Act 722, the Authority has been challenged to create more games to entertain and excite lottery fans in a way that would not only contribute to national development, but also be rewarding to the players. “These days, it is no longer about doing one big game each year, but rather a couple of little but highly profitable games that can add up to bigger sales and using text messaging is one of those marketing tools that bring new players into the game arena.” Mr Andah assured the public of the security and confidentiality of the game to prevent fraud. The Finance Minister observed that crude oil, which sold at less than 55 dollars per barrel, is now selling at 118 dollars and the price of wheat and rice has almost doubled. He urged the NLA to take additional steps to pay more than the projected 15 million Ghana cedis for 2008 to government and create the needed understanding that staking lottery was a win-win situation. “If we have more money through lotteries for development, then there would be equitable distribution of development to all and no one would be aggrieved of being left behind.” He also called on the NLA to engage all stakeholders in the industry and assure them that the Lottery Act made provision for all actors to remain in business appropriately. Marketing Director of NLA George Gyamfi-Osew explained that an electronic ticket number would be sent through the NLA data base system to confirm receipt of predictions and only lucky winners would be contacted for notification codes to enable them go for their prizes at accredited points. He cautioned winners to ignore messages that would demand advance fees or recharge cards before claiming their prizes. Source: Daily Express, with files from the GNA Mathias AMOAH mathias.amoah@dailyexpressonline.com