Ghana has been granted the honour of hosting the first African conference on responsible gaming, according to Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Sammy Awuku.

Speaking at the launch of the NLA’s diamond jubilee on September 29, 2022, in Accra, Mr Awuku stated that the conference “will be held concurrently between December 7 and 10, 2022.”

The African conference on responsible gaming is part of efforts to strengthen ties between African lottery countries and to improve lottery operations across the continent.

Stressing its significance to Ghana, Mr Awuku noted that the conference “will bring to the fore and expose Ghana as well to several delegations from various African countries where the lottery also takes place.”

Ghana has also been reinstated as a member of the African Lottery Association, also known as the Association des Loteries d’Afrique (ALA).

ALA is a branch of the World Lottery Association and a non-profit organization representing the interests of state-authorised lottery and sports betting operators throughout Africa.

The primary mission of the association is to unite public, mixed, and private companies that hold a monopoly, licence, or concession from African states for the operation of games of chance, in order to further socio-economic development across the African continent in priority sectors such as education, health, culture, and sport.

Ghana was no longer considered a member due to its inactivity in the operations of the associations.

However, due to conversations between the current leadership of the NLA, headed by Mr Awuku, and representatives of ALA, Ghana has been readmitted.

“In Ivory Coast currently, their director-general is the president of (ALA). We made a case to him, they also have to waive off some penalties and charges that have been accumulating because of our inactivity within the body,” Awuku said.

“So, all things being equal, we have completed discussions with them regarding the membership of the African Lottery Association, and I am happy to announce that we have been readmitted back into the African Lottery Association,” Mr Awuku said while announcing this in February.

Mr Awuku, at the launch of the anniversary, was very optimistic about the collaborations between the African countries in the industry yielding positive results.

Source: The Independent Ghana|