Kenya’s National Lottery Board has appointed RSM Eastern Africa and Sweden’s QLOT Consulting to advise on the procurement of an operator for the country’s statutory national lottery.
The consortium will support the board with transaction structuring, operator selection, onboarding and launch preparations. Its appointment followed an international tender conducted under Kenya’s Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.
RSM will contribute public-sector transaction and institutional advisory expertise, while QLOT specialises in lottery procurement and is an associate member of the World Lottery Association.
Acting National Lottery Board chief executive Martin Talian said the authority was targeting April 2027 for the first ticket sale, subject to the operator procurement remaining on schedule.
The lottery is expected to launch through a digital platform before expanding into other distribution channels.
National Lottery Board chair Farida Karoney said: “With our transaction adviser now in place, our attention turns to structuring a transparent, competitive process to attract a credible, capable operator to Kenya’s national lottery.”
Kenya established the National Lottery Board under the National Lottery Act 2023. The legislation requires the board to procure and contract an operator, oversee the lottery and administer the National Lottery Fund.
The selected operator will also require a licence from the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya, which replaced the Betting Control and Licensing Board under the Gambling Control Act 2025.
Lottery proceeds remaining after prizes and permitted operating costs will be transferred to the National Lottery Fund. Eligible recipients include charitable and humanitarian programmes, healthcare, education, economic empowerment initiatives, sports, culture and national development projects.
The board intends to incorporate age verification, self-exclusion, spending controls and clear disclosure of ticket prices and winning odds into the operating framework.
Detailed procurement requirements and the timetable for selecting the operator have not yet been published. The appointment of the advisory consortium begins the process of defining the commercial, technical and regulatory terms prospective operators will be required to meet.
