Ethiopian Lottery Service sets revenue and digital reform priorities under new strategy
The latest review places greater emphasis on institutional capacity, financial accountability and improved access to digital lottery services.
Key takeaways:
- The Ethiopian Lottery Service (ELS) has named revenue growth, digital transformation and institutional reform as its priorities, following a quarterly performance review held on 9 November.
- The focus on revenue follows a draft audit that put unpaid government revenue from sports betting at an estimated 27.5bn birr (US$167.7m).
- ELS will align its reforms with the new structure under the Ministry of Revenue and with Ethiopia’s Medemer Grand Strategy 2025–2050.
- The agenda comes as ELS prepares a possible return of sports betting under stricter controls, after operators were suspended in December 2025.
Ethiopia.- Ethiopia’s state-owned lottery operator and gambling regulator, the Ethiopian Lottery Service (ELS), has identified revenue growth, digital transformation and institutional reform as priorities following a quarterly performance review held on Monday, November 9. The meeting, led by chief executive Beza Girma, brought together the organisation’s management team to assess performance, address operational challenges and establish priorities for the coming months.
Girma said the lottery service needed to increase revenue, strengthen internal accountability and improve the achievement of its operational targets. She added that its institutional strategy must align with the new administrative structure under the Ministry of Revenue.
The renewed focus on revenue follows findings of financial irregularities in Ethiopia’s sports betting sector. A draft audit released in September 2026 estimated that sports betting operators handled 199bn birr (US$1.2bn) in transactions between July 2023 and December 2025, leaving the government with an estimated 27.5bn birr (US$167.7m) in unpaid revenue.
Girma also stressed the importance of aligning ELS’s institutional reforms with Ethiopia’s Medemer Grand Strategy 2025–2050, the country’s long-term development vision. The strategy provides a framework for modernising lottery operations, strengthening the organisation’s institutional capacity and improving management oversight to increase its contribution to government revenue.
Deputy CEO Endale Shiferaw called for faster progress on the service’s digital projects. He said ELS should build on its existing technology initiatives to streamline operations, improve access to lottery services and enhance service delivery. Shiferaw emphasised that the successful modernisation of ELS would depend on the continued involvement of both management and employees.
The reform agenda comes as ELS prepares to restructure the country’s sports betting market following the suspension of licensed operators in December 2025. In September 2026, Girma confirmed that the service was working on arrangements for a possible resumption under stricter regulatory controls and improved monitoring systems.
