BR Gaming ready for AfricaMillions lottery launch

The move follows an investment of 15 million euros in the company last month by a private equity firm to fund the launch.

BR Gaming entered into a partnership with AALE last November to be the exclusive operator of AfricaMillions, with the goal of federating the largest possible number of countries across the African continent in a multi-jurisdictional lottery. More than 20 African national lotteries currently belong to the AALE, which represents Africa as a member of the World Lottery Association.

The AfricaMillions lottery has so far signed up six countries ahead of its official launch in November, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali, representing a total of 70 million people. The lottery will then be extended to a further group of nine countries.

Game tickets will be sold at a price of 200 CFA francs each, with revenue from each draw remitted to the national lotteries, which will then redistribute the prize money to winning players up to a limit of 45%. The balance will be paid to the national lotteries and their retail networks, to the governments as lottery duty, to good causes in each participating country, and finally to BR Gaming as return on investment.

The lottery will be operated by BR Gaming subsidiary, BR Gaming Africa, which is headed by former professional footballer Basile Boli.

Last month at the company's Annual Assembly in Paris, BR Gaming increased its cash holdings by 15 million euros after an investment by Alpha Private Equity Fund 5, allowing the company to push through the launch of AfricaMillions. The pan-African lottery was originally due to launch in the first quarter of 2009.

BR Gaming has brought in several new members to the company in order manage its growth in Africa and its planned expansion across Latin America where it already has a presence in Brazil and soon Argentina.

Christian Kalb, a former manager at French gaming monopoly, La Française des Jeux, will advise the company's top management, while Javier del Aguila, with experience at Sportingbet and Bet365, has been appointed as head of Latin America operations. Pascale Beyssier has also been brought in to assist the company's President, Jean-Michel Bailly, and CEO William Rouff.