The Minister of Finance and Budget, Mr. Cheikh Diba, presided this Thursday morning in Dakar over the opening of the seminar of the African Lotteries Association (ALA), placed under the theme: "Development and innovation of African lotteries".

Addressing participants from several countries, the minister emphasized the strategic importance of this meeting in an economic context marked by increasing budgetary constraints. According to him, "this seminar that brings you together this morning, namely 'Development and Innovation of Lotteries in Africa,' is a major issue of our time."

Placing this reflection within the context of national economic policy, Cheikh Diba reiterated the Senegalese government's focus on diversifying funding sources. He stated: "In a context marked by resource scarcity and increasing budgetary pressure, the Government of the Republic of Senegal has opted for diversification and strengthening the mobilization of domestic resources."

In this context, he revisited the reforms undertaken in the gambling sector. "It is within this framework that the introduction of double taxation of the gambling sector took place in 2025," he indicated, specifying that this is intended to "support the mobilization effort and better regulate this rapidly growing sector."

The minister also highlighted the performance achieved, stating that "the results observed so far demonstrate the sector's dynamism and its potential for resource mobilization." He cited, in this regard, an amount of "40,900,000,000" mobilized as of May 1, 2026, corresponding to a coverage rate of "71%".

According to him, these resources have a direct impact on public policies: "these resources from this mobilization have been reinvested in the social priorities of the State, in a constrained budgetary context".

Addressing the social dimension of the sector, Cheikh Diba emphasized the need to protect populations, particularly young people, from the risks associated with online gaming. "As a conscious citizen, and especially as a parent, we are collectively concerned by the challenges of protecting children from the dangers of online gaming," he warned, calling for "structural, effective, and sustainable solutions."

In this context, he assigned a central role to the African Lotteries Association. "The ALA has a decisive role to play: that of uniting the actors, serving as a vanguard, but also as a framework for consultation and formulation of innovative solutions adapted to our African realities," he stressed.

Commending national efforts, the minister congratulated the General Directorate of LONASE and its Director General, Mr. Toussaint Manga. "I commend the work of the Director General of LONASE and congratulate him on the innovations implemented and for his participation in putting the government's directives into practice," he declared.

Sheikh Diba invited the participants to focus their work on concrete solutions. "This meeting should allow you to structure the debate around identifying concrete ways to support our states in a more comprehensive mobilization of resources, particularly in the digital sphere," he suggested.