{"id":35195,"date":"2026-10-14T04:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T07:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=35195"},"modified":"2026-10-15T06:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:25:00","slug":"lonaci-pmu-betting-cote-divoire-grand-prix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/lonaci-pmu-betting-cote-divoire-grand-prix","title":{"rendered":"LONACI promotes PMU betting at C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The inaugural Jacqueline Ou\u00e9gnin event brought together horses and jockeys from six countries and attracted nearly 3,000 spectators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>LONACI partnered with the Ivorian Equestrian Federation to promote PMU betting at the inaugural Grand Prix international Jacqueline Ou\u00e9gnin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The October 10 event in Grand-Bassam featured five races with horses and jockeys from C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>LONACI said demand from bettors was strong, with sellers overwhelmed and several betting pools recording more than four winners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Benin won the main 2,400-metre Grand Prix, with jockey Ibrahim Dicko receiving FCFA3m (US$5,120).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The event attracted nearly 3,000 spectators and was intended to support horse racing and PMU betting in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and the wider sub-region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.- C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s National Lottery Operator (LONACI) partnered with the Ivorian Equestrian Federation to promote Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) betting at the inaugural <strong>Grand Prix international Jacqueline Ou\u00e9gnin<\/strong>, a horse-racing event held in Grand-Bassam on October 10, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The competition featured five races involving horses and jockeys from <strong>C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Nigeria and Togo<\/strong>. The municipality of Grand-Bassam also partnered with the equestrian federation in organising the event, according to FratMat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LONACI reported strong interest from bettors in a statement, saying its sellers were overwhelmed by demand. Several <strong>betting pools<\/strong>, including the one associated with the race named after LONACI Director General Dramane Coulibaly, had more than four winners. Dosso Vaguia, head of PMU at LONACI, praised the organisation of the competition, saying it had improved compared with previous events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The race dedicated to Coulibaly was held over 1,800 metres and carried a prize of FCFA1.2m (US$2,050), alongside a separate fund of FCFA1m (US$1,710). C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire won the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burkina Faso won the opening race, while Ivorian jockeys won the next three races before Benin claimed the main Grand Prix international Jacqueline Ou\u00e9gnin over 2,400 metres. The <strong>main race<\/strong> carried a FCFA5m (US$8,540) prize allocation, with winning jockey Ibrahim Dicko receiving FCFA3m (US$5,120).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LONACI said the partnership aimed to promote PMU betting and develop horse racing in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and the wider sub-region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event attracted nearly 3,000 spectators. The Grand Prix was named in honour of Jacqueline Ou\u00e9gnin, the late wife of Ambassador Georges Fran\u00e7ois Ou\u00e9gnin. She supported the development of <strong>equestrian sports<\/strong> in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, and the federation named the event in recognition of her contribution.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/10\/LONACI-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/lonaci-quality-audit-iso-9001\">LONACI launches external audit to strengthen quality controls<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The inaugural Jacqueline Ou\u00e9gnin event brought together horses and jockeys from six countries and attracted nearly 3,000 spectators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":35199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"LONACI, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire's National Lottery Operator, partnered with the Ivorian Equestrian Federation to host the inaugural Grand Prix international Jacqueline Ou\u00e9gnin, a horse-racing event aimed at promoting Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) betting and developing equestrian sports in the sub-region. The event, held in Grand-Bassam, attracted nearly 3,000 spectators and saw strong bettor demand, indicating potential for growth in the regional pari-mutuel market. This initiative underscores LONACI's strategic focus on expanding its gaming verticals and fostering local sports development.","focusai_entities":"LONACI, Ivorian Equestrian Federation, Jacqueline Ou\u00e9gnin, Ibrahim Dicko, Dramane Coulibaly, Dosso Vaguia, Georges Fran\u00e7ois Ou\u00e9gnin, Municipality of Grand-Bassam","focusai_location":"C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Grand-Bassam, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Togo","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.8), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.9), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"PMU Market Growth?","query":"What are LONACI's projected GGR and NGR targets for the PMU vertical in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and the sub-region following this event, and what regulatory hurdles might impact cross-border expansion?"},{"label":"Regional Regulatory Alignment?","query":"How will LONACI and the Ivorian Equestrian Federation address the varying regulatory compliance and governance frameworks for PMU betting across the participating West African nations to facilitate future regional events?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60019,60012],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-35195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-west-africa","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35195"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35349,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35195\/revisions\/35349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}