{"id":37185,"date":"2026-11-09T12:52:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T15:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=37185"},"modified":"2026-11-10T03:51:33","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T06:51:33","slug":"ethiopian-lottery-service-revenue-digital-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/ethiopian-lottery-service-revenue-digital-reform","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopian Lottery Service sets revenue and digital reform priorities under new strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest review places greater emphasis on institutional capacity, financial accountability and improved access to digital lottery services.<\/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>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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>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).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ELS will align its reforms with the new structure under the Ministry of Revenue and with Ethiopia\u2019s Medemer Grand Strategy 2025\u20132050.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The agenda comes as ELS prepares a possible return of sports betting under stricter controls, after operators were suspended in December 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ethiopia.- Ethiopia\u2019s state-owned lottery operator and gambling regulator, the <strong>Ethiopian Lottery Service (ELS)<\/strong>, 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 <strong>Beza Girma<\/strong>, brought together the organisation\u2019s management team to assess performance, address operational challenges and establish priorities for the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The renewed focus on revenue follows findings of financial irregularities in Ethiopia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Girma also stressed the importance of aligning ELS\u2019s institutional reforms with Ethiopia\u2019s <strong>Medemer Grand Strategy 2025\u20132050<\/strong>, the country\u2019s long-term development vision. The strategy provides a framework for modernising lottery operations, strengthening the organisation\u2019s institutional capacity and improving management oversight to increase its contribution to government revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deputy CEO <strong>Endale Shiferaw<\/strong> called for faster progress on the service\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reform agenda comes as ELS prepares to restructure the country\u2019s 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.<\/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\/08\/42f967e2-9b8c-42c3-826f-2a5f07f97fd8-300x200.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\/tanzania-gaming-machine-regulation\">Tanzania plans gaming-machine revenue-sharing deal as foreign licences suspended<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The latest review places greater emphasis on institutional capacity, financial accountability and improved access to digital lottery services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":37188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Ethiopian Lottery Service (ELS) has prioritized revenue growth, digital transformation, and institutional reform following a quarterly review, driven by a draft audit revealing significant unpaid government revenue from sports betting. These reforms align with the Ministry of Revenue and the Medemer Grand Strategy, as ELS prepares to reintroduce sports betting under stricter regulatory controls after a prior suspension.","focusai_entities":"Ethiopian Lottery Service (ELS), Ministry of Revenue, Beza Girma, Endale Shiferaw","focusai_location":"Ethiopia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.85), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.9), tech_data (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.75)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Ethiopia Sports Betting Outlook?","query":"What specific regulatory changes and licensing frameworks are anticipated for the reintroduction of sports betting in Ethiopia, and how will these impact market entry barriers and operational compliance for prospective operators?"},{"label":"ELS Revenue Recovery Strategy?","query":"Beyond stricter controls, what concrete mechanisms and enforcement actions will ELS implement to recover the estimated 27.5bn birr in unpaid government revenue and prevent future financial irregularities?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60013,60019],"tags":[2689,74,78],"class_list":["post-37185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-africa","category-regulation-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-lottery","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37185","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\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37185"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37254,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37185\/revisions\/37254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}