{"id":37118,"date":"2026-11-09T03:43:16","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T06:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=37118"},"modified":"2026-11-09T11:48:52","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T14:48:52","slug":"lonaci-sports-club-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/lonaci-sports-club-funding","title":{"rendered":"LONACI doubles sports club support in C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LONACI has expanded its sports development initiative to 15 clubs for the 2026-2027 season, with Africa Sport d&#8217;Abidjan among the beneficiaries.<\/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 distributed FCFA60m (US$103,000) to 15 sports clubs for the 2026-2027 season.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each club received FCFA4m (US$6,870).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The number of supported clubs increased from seven to 15.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Beneficiaries include football and basketball organisations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire.- C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire&#8217;s National Lottery operator (LONACI) has expanded its <strong>sports support<\/strong> to 15 clubs, distributing FCFA60m (US$103,000) for the 2026-2027 season. Each beneficiary received FCFA4m (US$6,870), with the funding intended to help clubs improve their <strong>operating conditions<\/strong>, strengthen athlete supervision and support the development of young talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cheques were presented on November 4, at the LONACI Studios in Marcory-Bi\u00e9try, Abidjan. LONACI Director General Dramane Coulibaly handed over the grants alongside Deputy Director General Abdoulkarim Ouattara. The ceremony was attended by club representatives, coaches and other <strong>stakeholders<\/strong> in C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire&#8217;s sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Africa Sport d&#8217;Abidjan Vice-President Diesou Landry thanked LONACI for its support and welcomed the expansion of the initiative, with the number of beneficiary clubs rising from seven to 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The beneficiaries include Africa Sport d&#8217;Abidjan, Magic Basketball Club, Cocody Acad\u00e9mie Football and One Day Acad\u00e9mie Football, alongside 11 other clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Coulibaly said the initiative was intended to promote <strong>solidarity and inclusion<\/strong>, reaffirming LONACI&#8217;s commitment to supporting sporting disciplines without distinction. \u201cIt is not necessarily a classic grant, it is first and foremost a citizen&#8217;s gesture, an act of inclusion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He urged the recipient clubs to use the <strong>funding responsibly<\/strong>, directing it towards improving their operating conditions, strengthening the supervision of athletes and supporting the training of young talents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest allocation extends the reach of LONACI&#8217;s sports support programme, providing financial assistance to a broader group of clubs during the 2026-2027 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions (FAQs)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How much funding did LONACI distribute to sports clubs in 2026?<\/strong> LONACI distributed FCFA60m (US$103,000) to 15 sports clubs for the 2026-2027 season.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>How much did each sports club receive from LONACI?<\/strong> Each of the 15 beneficiary clubs received FCFA4m (US$6,870).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Which sports clubs received funding from LONACI?<\/strong> Beneficiaries include Africa Sport d&#8217;Abidjan, Magic Basketball Club, Cocody Acad\u00e9mie Football and One Day Acad\u00e9mie Football, alongside 11 other clubs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\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\/09\/JC-LONACI1-300x200.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\/cote-divoire-national-lottery-expands-sportcashs-grassroots-football-reach\">C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire National Lottery expands Sportcash\u2019s grassroots football reach<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LONACI has expanded its sports development initiative to 15 clubs for the 2026-2027 season, with Africa Sport d&#8217;Abidjan among the beneficiaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":37120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"C\u00f4te d'Ivoire's National Lottery operator, LONACI, has significantly expanded its sports development initiative, allocating FCFA60m (US$103,000) to 15 sports clubs for the 2026-2027 season. This represents an increase from seven previously supported clubs, reinforcing LONACI's commitment to community investment and sports development across various disciplines. The funding aims to enhance operational conditions, athlete supervision, and youth talent development.","focusai_entities":"LONACI, Africa Sport d'Abidjan, Magic Basketball Club, Cocody Acad\u00e9mie Football, One Day Acad\u00e9mie Football, Dramane Coulibaly, Abdoulkarim Ouattara, Diesou Landry","focusai_location":"C\u00f4te d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Marcory-Bi\u00e9try","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.8), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.7), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"CSR Strategy Alignment?","query":"How does LONACI's expanded sports development initiative integrate with its overarching corporate governance and stakeholder engagement strategies, and what are the measurable KPIs for assessing its impact on brand equity and social license to operate?"},{"label":"Regulatory Precedent?","query":"What implications does LONACI's increased community investment have for regulatory expectations regarding social contributions from other licensed iGaming operators, both B2B and B2C, within the C\u00f4te d'Ivoire market?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60017,60012],"tags":[72,74,78],"class_list":["post-37118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sportsbetting-news","category-west-africa","tag-gaming","tag-lottery","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37118","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=37118"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37182,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37118\/revisions\/37182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}