Lottery launches in Juba, seeks to cut unemployment

Launched under the slogan “everyone’s a winner”, the new company called Specialist Lottery Games, partly Chinese funded, aims to reduce the national unemployment rate by employing hundreds of thousands of youths in a lottery vendors scheme.

“The public at large will be able to access lottery tickets with a minimum of hassle,” said Lottery Executive Director Bol Alaak Ding. “Our lottery will be played using mobile phones, by selecting numbers and sending them to our specialised codes.”

He said South Sudan would on average have one new millionaire per week, starting from May 2016.

The lottery could make a sizeable contribution South Sudan’s Gross Domestic Product which has sunk following the drop in oil prices, Ding said, adding that the competition could earn SSP 45 million per month.

Ding explained that the winner would walk away with 60 percent, while 20 percent would finance the government and the lottery operator would get the remaining 20 percent.

Addressing journalists during the launch, Ding said the company planned a number of interactive gaming solution for its target audience, including Instant Scratch Off Games and Draw Games.

In Instant Scratch Off Games, players buy cards costing SSP 50 and winners would walk away with as much as SSP 250,000. The Weekly Lotto asks its players to pick six numbers between 1 and 49, offering an estimated jackpot of SSP 10 Million weekly, which would rise until a winner or winners emerge. The weekly game will hold a draw at 7:55 pm every Friday, with the numbers broadcast on SSTV.

One intended side effect of the lottery is to assist social projects, in keeping with similar initiatives worldwide, where lottery proceeds are pumped into education and charity work. “The general public is therefore the greatest beneficiary,” Ding said.

Lottery competitions have found a lucrative niche in other markets, including in the Niger Republic, where more than 45 percent of the population play lottery and profits are used by the government to fight desertification and to dig bore holes.

Specialist Lottery Games, is sponsored by the Chinese, who invested half a million US dollars to sustain its operations in South Sudan.