$92bn lottery proceeds channeled to ‘Good Causes’ – World Lottery Association boss
President of the World Lottery Association (WLA), Rebecca Paul, has revealed that $92 billion from lottery proceeds globally have been channeled to ‘Good Causes’ project.
She indicated that the stated amount was spent last year alone and is the contributions of the various lottery bodies across the globe.
Speaking at the climax of the 60th-anniversary celebration of Ghana Lottery Authority (NLA) which she was in attendance with other executives of the WLA, Madam Rebecca Paul underscored the significance of Good Causes.
“I am happy to tell you that we spent $92 billion in 2021 alone, raised by lotteries across the globe for Good Causes”, she revealed.
The WLA President is however worried about the proliferation of illegal lotto operations she stated is hampering the objectives of lottery bodies honouring their corporate social responsibility through Good Causes.
“The biggest detriment to what is happening is illegal gaming. They don’t contribute to Good Causes, they don’t pay taxes, they don’t follow the same rules all of us do in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility. The World Lottery Association is working on how to prevent Illegal gaming across the globe. All of you here in Ghana should be very pleased with the amount of money raised for health, for education and sports”, she disclosed.
It would be recalled that at this year’s World Lottery Summit held at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, it was uncovered that illegal lottery activity caused a loss of revenue of a total of $1.8 trillion in 2022 alone.
As a result, the World Lottery Authority (WLA) has revealed that it will be focusing more on responsible gaming and good causes in the coming years and has asked member countries to promote these values.
Ghana’s National Lottery Authority (NLA) itself has been battling with illegal lottery activities for some time now and is determined to increase its clamp down activity with new measures.
The NLA which launched its charity arm the ‘Good Causes Foundation’ a little over a year ago is determined to develop, implement and maintain an integrated action plan based on four main pillars – education, health, youth and sports development and culture.