The African Lotteries Association (ALA) has convened two major gatherings in Abidjan from June 23 to 25, 2025, bringing together Directors General of African lotteries and their delegations for a pivotal week of dialogue, training and strategic alignment.

On June 24, ALA hosted a high-level seminar at the Azalaï Hotel in Marcory, themed “Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity.” This timely session explored the evolving role of AI in the gaming and lottery industries, while spotlighting strategies to combat rising cybersecurity threats. Leaders from across the continent shared insights on innovation, operational efficiency and risk mitigation in an increasingly digital landscape.

The seminar was opened by Mr. Doumbia Fassery, Vice President of ALA and Director General of PMU Mali, representing Mr. Dramane Coulibaly, President of ALA and Director General of LONACI. The event also saw strong participation from ALA member executives, including Mr. Abdoulkarim Ouattara, Deputy Director General of LONACI, along with members of the ALA Board of Directors.

The week’s activities culminated on June 25 with ALA’s Annual General Assembly—also at the Azalaï Hotel—where members reviewed key achievements, adopted new resolutions and strengthen inter-member collaboration to advance the Association’s mission across the continent.

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Volt, the global real-time payments platform, has announced a new strategic partnership with leading e-money institution and payment services provider EPG Financial Services. Volt will power real-time open banking payments for paylado, EPG’s e-wallet solution.

Built primarily for the German market, paylado allows users to top up their e-wallets manually using two methods: a network of cash deposit devices across Germany, or via bank transfer. Once their balance is updated, users are able to initiate deposits with paylado’s network of licensed, regulating iGaming merchants.

Because manual bank transfers can take up to five days to settle, and are prone to errors, EPG was seeking an open banking partner to provide a replacement in the form of real-time account-to-account payments. Because these are automated, transactions are always pre-populated and ready to approve within a user’s banking app.

Volt was selected owing to the resilience of its bank connectivity in Germany, its optimised top-up user experience, and its ability to initiate payouts from a paylado user’s e-wallet back to their bank account – which iGaming merchants view as essential functionality. Further, its coverage across Europe was seen by EPG as a means by which it can seamlessly reach new users in additional markets.

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Rupert Kainzbauer, CEO of EPG Financial Services, said: “We chose Volt because of its multiple connections to bank APIs, in addition to its broad geographic coverage. We have absolute confidence that this will translate into a superior customer experience for paylado users, who can now make top-ups and initiate payouts much faster. We look forward to exploring further use cases with Volt as the transformative power of open banking becomes more apparent.”

Anna Gladka, Volt’s Business Development Director and resident wealthtech expert, said: “We’re thrilled to go live with paylado. From the moment we began speaking with EPG Financial Services, it became clear how closely our product capabilities align with their needs – and, despite only recently going live, we’re already talking about further ways of working together. Above all, the partnership is further evidence of the strength of our network and the onward customer experience that it facilitates.”

SYNOT Interactive has officially joined the World Lottery Association (WLA) – the leading global organisation representing state-licensed lotteries and gaming operators, along with their trusted suppliers and technology partners.

SYNOT said: “Becoming a member of WLA is more than a badge of honour. It reflects our long-standing dedication to integrity, transparency, and innovation in the lottery space. With this step, we reinforce our position as a trusted lottery technology provider, committed to delivering secure and responsible digital solutions to regulated markets around the world.

“As a provider of flexible and scalable lottery solutions – including mobile-first platforms, instant win games, and player engagement tools – we aim to bring future-proof technologies to both emerging and established regulated lottery environments.”

By joining WLA, SYNOT Interactive gains access to a global community of industry leaders, expert insights, and compliance standards that drive the responsible growth of the lottery industry. This includes knowledge exchange, collaborative opportunities, and alignment with the WLA Security Control Standard (WLA-SCS) framework – one of the most respected benchmarks in gaming integrity and information security.

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SYNOT added: “WLA certification supports our mission to operate as a lottery technology provider that values not just functionality and innovation, but also accountability, sustainability, and social responsibility.

“This milestone reinforces the fact that our solutions – from comprehensive lottery platforms to instant win content and backend management tools – are developed with long-term scalability, regulatory alignment, and player satisfaction in mind.

“WLA membership enhances our ability to serve national lotteries, governmental institutions, and regulated B2B operators looking for a compliant and trusted lottery technology provider. Whether launching a new project or modernising an existing system, our team is ready to deliver.

“We view our WLA membership not as a conclusion, but as an evolution of our role within the global lottery ecosystem. Our objective is to continue building digital lottery systems that offer secure infrastructure, intuitive design, and adaptable features for any jurisdiction.”