Kenya has moved closer to the inaugural National Lottery Operator after the National Lottery Board unveiled a consortium of RSM Eastern Africa and QLOT Consulting of Sweden as the Transaction Advisor to guide the process.
While making the announcement in Nairobi on Thursday, National Lottery Board Chairperson Farida Karoney said the consortium will work with the Board from transaction structuring through to operator onboarding and launch readiness.
Karoney said the appointment followed an open international tender conducted under the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, adding that the consortium emerged as the highest-ranked and most responsive bidder.
“Today marks a defining milestone on Kenya’s journey toward a National Lottery of our own. A lottery built on trust. Run to the highest international standards. And dedicated, by law, to good causes for the Kenyan people,” said Karoney.
“This was an open, competitive international tender. It was evaluated using the Quality and Cost Based Selection methodology, which means both technical quality and price were scored, and quality carried real weight,” she stated.
While RSM Eastern Africa brings depth in transaction advisory and institutional strengthening across Kenya’s public sector, Farida maintained that QLOT Consulting, an Associate Member of the World Lottery Association, offers internationally benchmarked experience from the world’s most sophisticated lottery procurements.
“They bring the international benchmark to the table and together, they will walk with us through every stage of procuring Kenya’s first National Lottery Operator,” she pointed out.
Specifically, Karoney said that the consortium will work with the Board from the concession structuring and legal advisory, to financial modelling, technical and cybersecurity standards, market engagement, evaluation, contracting and financial aspects among others.
“And just as importantly, they will transfer knowledge and build capacity within the Board. When their assignment ends, the expertise must remain in Kenya, inside this institution. We are not buying advice; we are building capability,” Karoney affirmed.
“The assignment includes a structured knowledge-transfer programme, so that expertise is retained within the Board,” she said, adding: “The appointment of a credible, multidisciplinary Transaction Advisor is a defining step in building a National Lottery that Kenyans can trust.”
“It is a statement of intent that our National Lottery will be structured transparently, governed responsibly, and built to international best practice, with every shilling raised channelled toward good causes that uplift communities across the country,” said Karoney.
According to her, the National Lottery is not simply about lottery games but a platform to promote good causes in the communities across the country.
“It is a national instrument for good,” she said.
Under the law, the proceeds of the National Lottery, after prizes and the cost of running the lottery, are paid into the National Lottery Fund and dedicated to good causes and not for private benefit.
“It means help arriving faster when floods or drought or fire strike a community. And it means the country is able to fund transformative projects that would otherwise wait years for a budget line,” she continued.
