News Guide Africa

Tag: KGL Technology Limited

  • RTI exemptions bar release of NLA-KGL report to media – Political Strategist opines

    RTI exemptions bar release of NLA-KGL report to media – Political Strategist opines

    Public commentary surrounding the Right to Information (RTI) request for the Interministerial Committee Report on the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and KGL Technology Limited deal has drawn strong pushback from political strategist and academic Dr. Razak Kojo Opoku.

    Dr. Opoku has criticized investigative outlet The Fourth Estate for pushing to access the report, arguing that statutory exemptions under the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) explicitly restrict the disclosure of active government deliberations and sensitive commercial negotiations.

    According to Dr. Opoku, KGL Technology Limited, the primary private entity involved in the renegotiations, has not even received a copy of the report, despite formal applications submitted to state authorities.

    “KGL Technology Limited, which is directly the main subject of the review and renegotiation of its contracts with the National Lottery Authority, does NOT even have a copy of the Interministerial Committee Report,” Dr. Opoku stated. “This implies that KGL is doing financial renegotiations with government without a copy of and access to the Interministerial Committee Report on the NLA-KGL deal.”

     

    He emphasized that ongoing discussions between the state and KGL are governed directly by directives issued by the Executive.

    “The ongoing financial renegotiations between government and KGL are strictly guided by the letter issued by the Office of the President dated 7th April 2026 under the signature of the Secretary to the President, Callistus Mahama (PhD),” Dr. Opoku explained. “So, if KGL… has NO copy of the Interministerial Committee Report, why must Fourth Estate, which was not copied and also NOT even a party to the review and renegotiations of the NLA-KGL deal, be given a copy simply because of the RTI Act?”

     

    Citing specific provisions of Act 989, Dr. Opoku outlined why the document remains legally protected from public disclosure, pointing to Sections 5, 6, 10, 11, and 13, which safeguard presidential advice, cabinet deliberations, trade secrets, and state negotiation strategies.

    “NOT all information can be given or accessed under the Right to Information Act, 2019,” Dr. Opoku asserted. “Under Section 10, information is exempt where it contains trade secrets, financial or technical information, or procedures and instructions relating to negotiations being carried on by or on behalf of the State, the disclosure of which could affect the integrity or stability of the financial system or cause disruption of business.”

    Dr. Opoku further rejected arguments invoking the public interest override under Section 17 of the Act, stating that the underlying contracts have already been confirmed as legal by state authorities.

    “The contracts have been accepted by government as legal per the official letter issued by the Office of the President,” he noted. “They do NOT pose an imminent and serious threat to public safety, health, or morals, nor do they involve a miscarriage of justice or an abuse of authority.”

     

    Calling for a deeper understanding of information access laws among media practitioners, Dr. Opoku urged journalists to thoroughly examine statutory limitation clauses before pursuing RTI requests for active state negotiations.

    “Journalists should understand that before you write an application to access information under Section 18, make sure that you are clearly well educated to the fullest understanding and appreciation of Sections 5 to 17 of the same RTI Act,” Dr. Opoku concluded.

     

     

  • Numbers Don’t Lie: Why GLOA’s 80% market share should yield more than GH¢ 44.9m

    Numbers Don’t Lie: Why GLOA’s 80% market share should yield more than GH¢ 44.9m

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    A fierce debate over revenue mobilization in Ghana’s lottery industry has intensified following a press statement by the Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA).

    The association is urging stakeholders, the media, and the general public to refrain from comparing the GH¢ 44.9 million paid by 29 licensed Private Lotto Operators to the National Lottery Authority (NLA) with the staggering GH¢ 173 million contributed by tech-giant KGL Technology Limited.

    While GLOA defends the disparity by pointing to vastly different operational structures, industry analysts and the legal framework governing the sector suggest that differing business models should not serve as an excuse for underperforming in national revenue mobilization.

    Revenue Generation: The Primary Mandate

    According to Section 2(1) of the National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722):

    “National Lotto shall be conducted for the purpose of RAISING REVENUE for the NATION and for other purposes stated in this Act.”

     

    Per this statutory provision, KGL has emphatically proven its worth. By injecting over GH¢ 173 million into the state coffers, KGL has emerged as the largest single contributor to the NLA, effectively helping the Authority fulfill the number-one objective for which it was established.

    While critics often argue that traditional private operators do more for grassroots employment, the legal framework clarifies that the primary purpose of the NLA is state revenue generation, not job creation. Crucially, modern data shows that robust revenue generation inherently triggers socio-economic benefits. Whether through digital USSD platforms, Point of Sale (POS) terminals, or traditional paper-based coupons, KGL’s high-volume model naturally stimulates job creation and grassroots economic activity as a secondary byproduct of its financial success.

    The Regulatory Divide and Market Share Irony

    The operational distinction between the two entities boils down to their legal recognition under Ghanaian law:

    ● KGL Technology Limited: Operates digitally as an official collaborator under Section 2(4) of the National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722).

    ● Private Lotto Operators (GLOA): Are not explicitly recognized as Lotto Marketing Companies or collaborators under Act 722. Instead, they operate under licenses regulated by the NLA via Section 22(1) of the Veterans Administration, Ghana Act, 2012 (Act 844).

     

     

    Operator Group Legal Framework Market Share Recent NLA Revenue Contribution

    KGL Technology Ltd. Act 722, Sec 2(4) ~20% – 30% GHS 173 Million

    Private Operators (GLOA) Act 844, Sec 22(1) 70% – 80% GHS 44.9 Million (Combined)

     

    This stark contrast in market share is what makes GLOA’s plea for “no comparison” highly contentious.

    Industry Experts Weigh In

    Market data indicates that members of GLOA and other private lotto operators still collectively command a massive 70% to 80% of the domestic lottery market share.

    With such a dominant grip on the Ghanaian playing public, financial experts argue that it is not inherently flawed to compare GLOA’s GH¢ 44.9 million to KGL’s GH¢ 173 million. If anything, the math suggests that the state is losing out on significant revenue from the private sector. If a single digital collaborator controlling a smaller fraction of the market can yield 173 million cedis, a collective of 29 heavily entrenched private operators controlling the lion’s share of the market should realistically be contributing far more to the Republic.

    As the government seeks to maximize domestic revenue mobilization to fund critical infrastructure and development projects, the NLA is facing mounting pressure to bridge this gap. Going forward, the state may need to re-evaluate its regulatory mechanisms to ensure that all operators—regardless of whether they use digital algorithms or paper coupons—commensurately pay back into the nation that sustains them.

     

  • Lottery Industry Showdown: GLOA concedes market dominance to KGL, shuns revenue-driven comparison 

     

    ​By News Desk

     

    ​The Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) has officially broken its silence on the brewing revenue debate within the nation’s lottery sector, confirming the undisputed market dominance of tech-lottery giant KGL Group.

    GLOA, in a press statement issued last week, the association urged state officials, the media, and the general public to halt immediate comparisons between the financial contributions of private operators and those of KGL, describing such parallels as fundamentally flawed given the vastly different operational frameworks.

    ​The statement, explicitly pleaded with stakeholders “not to compare the GHS 44.9 million paid by some 29 licensed Private Lotto Operators to the National Lottery Authority (NLA) to the over GHS 173 million paid by KGL to the same institution.” GLOA went a step further to formally crown KGL as the single largest contributor to the NLA’s revenue generation pipeline for the Republic.

    ​Revenue vs. Employment: The Mandate of Act 722

    However, ​at the heart of the association’s argument is a return to the foundational legal text governing the lottery sector.

    Consequently, in a statement authored by lotto industry expert, Dr Razak Kojo Opoku, pointed out that under Section 2(1) of the National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722), the legislative intent is crystal clear.

    ​”National Lotto shall be conducted for the purpose of raising revenue for the nation and for other purposes stated in this Act,” the statute dictates.

    ​”Per Section 2(1) of Act 722, KGL has proven its worth in salt by helping the National Lottery Authority to fulfill its number one objective for which the Authority was established,” the Dr Kojo Opoku said in the statement.

    ​The association argued that critics often misunderstand the primary purpose of the NLA. “The primary purpose of establishing NLA is raising revenue for the nation, not principally employment creation or engaging in grassroots economic activity,” Dr Kojo Opoku clarified, swiftly added that “generating revenue automatically leads to jobs creation and grassroots economic activity whether via its USSD platform, point of sale terminals, or paper-based coupons.”

    National Lottery Authority (NLA) Contributions ─────────────┬────────────

    │ Entity                     │Amount Paid to NLA

     

    │ KGL Group            │ GHS 173.0 Million      │

    │ 29 Lotto Operators│ GHS 44.9 Million

     

     

    A Paradigm of Different Business Models

    ​The association clarified that the two entities operate in entirely different legal and operational spheres. While KGL operates legally as a registered collaborator under Section 2(4) of Act 722, private operators have a more fragmented legal standing. The statement admitted that private operators are not explicitly recognized under Act 722 as either Lotto Marketing Companies or formal collaborators, requiring them to instead be regulated under Section 22(1) of the Veterans Administration, Ghana Act, 2012 (Act 844).

    ​However, GLOA did not entirely shield its own members from criticism regarding the massive revenue gap. Despite KGL’s staggering GHS 173 million yield, GLOA acknowledged that private operators collectively still command a massive 70% to 80% share of the physical lottery market.

    ​”It is not inherently flawed to compare GLOA’s 44.9 million cedi to KGL’s 173 million cedi because GLOA and its members still control 70–80% of the market share,” the statement candidly remarked. “Therefore, it is expected that GLOA would do better than making GHS 44.9 million payments to the Republic through NLA.”

    ​The Half-Dollar Billion Illusion: Tech Architecture Costs Money

    ​Addressing critics who claim KGL holds an unfair advantage through exclusive digital access, the expert slammed the narrative that digital success is automatic. The association stressed that staking lottery numbers is an optional civic duty rather than a mandatory tax, meaning consumer acquisition requires aggressive, high-capital strategies.

    ​”It takes extremely huge investments into modern I.T. infrastructure, software systems integrations, ISO Certifications, and marketing to achieve the needed results in mobile-based transactions,” Dr Kojo Opoku stated.

     

    ​The association estimated the price tag for such dominance to be astronomically high: “Attaining competitive advantage in that space is not by mouth, but an expensive capital investment of about $500 million to $1 billion to have the kind of infrastructure architecture that KGL is currently operating in partnership with the Mobile Network Companies.”

    The industry expert pulled no punches in dispelling myths surrounding digital platforms, calling out historical misinformation. “It is a lie for anyone to say that access to a dedicated USSD platform substantially expands transaction volumes while reducing operational complexity.”

    ​To back this claim, the statement highlighted a history of failed digital lottery initiatives managed by the NLA and prior collaborators:

    ​Mobi Game 2 Sure (2008): Failed to achieve sustainability.

    ​Mobile 5/90 (2015–2017): Brought in a meager GHS 517,967.50 in 2015, crawled to GHS 1.25 million in 2016, and plummeted to GHS 367,812.30 in 2017 before being abruptly shut down by the NLA due to poor performance.

    ​*890# Short Code Projects (2020): The VAG Lottery Intake and NLA 5/90 VAG intakes generated a dismal GHS 31,786.85 and GHS 938,005.14 respectively, forcing the NLA and Tekstart Afrika Limited to cease operations completely.

    ​”These historical failures of the aforementioned digitalization projects by NLA and previous collaborators cement and confirm that the success story of KGL did not come easy or cheap,” Dr Kojo Opoku argued. “It came through tremendous work, dedication, and investments.”

    ​Sustaining a Heavy Overhead and Over 1 Million Livelihoods

    ​According to Dr Kojo Opoku, KGL carries an infrastructure maintenance burden that dwarfs the operational costs of traditional paper-coupon operators. The association challenged its own peer network, asking, “Which member of GLOA, or can the combined resources of GLOA, match up to the unprecedented financial investments that KGL has poured into the sustainability of its operations at no financial cost or risk to NLA?”

    ​These expenditures include multi-million dollar investments into telecommunications alignment, advanced cybersecurity firewalls to block fraud, the direct payment of winning national lotto tickets, and robust Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaigns.

     

    KGL’s Annual Economic Footprint to NLA Funds

     

    │NLA Stabilization Fund│ GHS 3.0 Million

     

    │NLA Good Causes Foundation │ GHS 2.0 Million

     

    │Total Ecosystem Contribution │ > GHS 1.0 Billion

     

    (Note: KGL’s individual fund contributions of GHS 3M and GHS 2M each outpace the GHS 1.5M license fee paid by single private operators).

    ​Beyond statutory requirements, Dr Kojo Opoku praised KGL’s wider impact on the Ghanaian economic ecosystem, noting that corporate giants like MTN, Telecel, AirtelTigo, various commercial banks, advertising agencies, and media houses remain major financial beneficiaries of KGL’s operations. Through the KGL Foundation, the group heavily funds education, healthcare delivery, and sports development, injecting over GHS 1 billion annually into the national economy and supporting millions of households.

    ​A Call for Industrial Harmony

    ​Concluding the statement, Dr Kojo Opoku called for an immediate truce and a “holistic evaluation” of the lottery market, emphasizing that the sector is vast enough for all entities to thrive if modern corporate strategies are adopted.

    ​”The lottery market space is still underdeveloped, and the space is big enough to accommodate KGL, Private Lotto Operators, and other Collaborators. Industrial harmony is key for each company licensed by NLA to realize its full potential,” the statement urged.

     

    ​The association advised it members to stop fighting the digital wave and instead look inward by deploying modern Point of Sale (POS) terminals and secure paper coupons with enhanced anti-fraud features.

    ​”The Republic needs KGL to raise revenue in accordance with Section 2(1) of Act 722. The Republic also needs the Private Lotto Operators, Lotto Marketing Companies, and Collaborators to create jobs for a number of people in the kiosks across the country,” Dr Kojo Opoku concluded. “Instead of fighting and undermining each other, the stakeholders duly recognized by the National Lottery Authority should learn to peacefully co-exist.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • FACT-CHECK: Inconsistent financial figures dent credibility of attacks on NLA-KGL deal …Call grows to protect local businesses

    FACT-CHECK: Inconsistent financial figures dent credibility of attacks on NLA-KGL deal …Call grows to protect local businesses

    Public policy experts and corporate analysts are calling for a more objective, data-driven approach to discussing major public-private partnerships, following what critics describe as highly inconsistent and contradictory allegations leveled against the operational deal between the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and KGL Technology Limited.

    The ongoing media campaign led by the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has come under intense scrutiny. Observers point out that a close review of his public statements reveals fluctuating financial claims that raise serious questions about the credibility and reliability of his assertions.

    Shifting Figures and Contradictory Claims

    A chronological tracking of social media commentary exposes sharp inconsistencies in the figures presented to the public.

    ● On 5th August 2025, as captured in the file named FB_IMG_1780508517180.jpg, a post asserted that “the NLA-KGL deal must be abrogated immediately” because “Ghana is losing millions every week.”

    ● Scarcely six weeks later, on 19th September 2025, another post referenced via the file named FB_IMG_1780508528838.jpg shifted the narrative entirely, questioning how a state business generating “GHC 3 billion” could be given to a private company in exchange for “GHC 170 million.”

    ● Today, 3rd June 2026, the narrative has shifted yet again. In a new update under the file named FB_IMG_1780508533026.jpg, the claim has altered to state that the deal is about Ghana “loosing close to GHC 1 billion every year.”

    “Smart and intelligent investigators substantiate their allegations with concrete facts and verified data,” a corporate governance analyst remarked on the condition of anonymity. “When an commentator continuously throws around vastly inconsistent facts and figures within a short timeframe, it suggests that the underlying analysis may be driven by sentiment rather than audited financial realities.”

    What Did the Presidential Committee Actually Say?

    The continuous demands for the outright termination of the partnership run contrary to the official findings of state-level investigations.

    Contrary to the impression created in these public attacks, the independent committee set up by the President did not validate claims of the state losing “millions every week,” a “GHC 3 billion business,” or “GHC 1 billion every year” due to KGL’s operations.

    Crucially, the presidential committee never recommended that the NLA-KGL deal should be abrogated. Instead, the consensus among state oversight bodies has focused on regulatory oversight and contract optimization safeguarding the state’s interests by refining the partnership rather than tearing it down completely. Critics argue that the apparent hostility directed toward KGL has clouded objective judgment, resulting in claims that misinform and mislead followers.

    Supporting Ghanaian Industry While Correcting Flaws

    Industry stakeholders argue that the focus should remain on building and scaling indigenous Ghanaian enterprises. KGL Technology Limited is a wholly Ghanaian-owned business that has driven digital innovation within the local lottery ecosystem, creating significant employment and keeping capital within the domestic economy.

     

    The prevailing view among economic pragmatists is that the KGL-NLA partnership must be encouraged and sustained, while any identified administrative or structural flaws are systematically corrected.

    Abrogating contracts based on fluctuating public allegations threatens investor confidence and undermines the growth of local champions. The path forward for Ghana’s public sector lies in rigorous, data-backed oversight that protects the national purse while actively empowering Ghanaian businesses to thrive.