ALA/WLA Legal & fiscal seminar

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

ALA/WLA Legal & fiscal seminar

Abidjan (IVORY COAST).

ADDRESSING AFRICA’S IMMINENT REGULATORY AND FISCAL NEEDS IN AN EXCEPTIONAL WAY !

Objectives:

• Have a better understanding of the legal and tax evolution of the market

• Develop regulatory cooperation between lotteries and regulators

• Strengthen the role and potential of lotteries

• Support growth, innovation and transformation

• Enable operational cooperation (coordinated play)

• Presentation of regulatory experiences in the field of lotteries so that participants can learn from the various tax models adopted by lotteries

Strong legal and tax framework helps achieve change and growth

 

Synthesis

Participants : 110

• Country : 14

• Language: French / English

• Organizer: ALA / WLA with LONACI as host lottery.

From 23 to 25 April 2019 the legal and fiscal seminar organized by the African Lottery Association ( with the support of WLA) took place in Abidjan ( IVORY COAST). LONACI, the “ Loterie National du Côte D’Ivoire” did spend a lot of effort to make the seminar a great logistics success.

The event started with speech of the President of ALA, Directeur-Général Amadou Samba Kane who welcomed the more than 100 delegates representing all levels of Lottery officials from more than 14 diferents African countries as well as France and Belgium. Directeur-Général , Dramane Coulibaly, of LONACI, the organizing lottery from Ivory Coast did add another warm welcome. LONACI was a fantastic host for this seminar.

Immediately after, Philippe Vlaemminck, lawyer and expert of legal issues in the Lottery sector , took over as moderator of the seminar. He did an initial presentation on “a modern framework to regulate the lottery and gaming market”. He emphasized that the starting point of a good legislative framework is to implement the principle of “ a total prohibition with explicit exceptions” . He warned for the potential risks of the aggressive lobbyists of the on line gambling industry who would bring their fairy tales to the governments promising high return to government, a promise they can never keep. He also mentioned the need to tackle the illegal market, including the secondary lotteries who do often violate IP rights.

Dawid Muller, a lawyer from South Africa followed further the same path. He warned for the inherent difficulties in financing a lottery concession as long as, following a public bidding process, no clarity is provided for the operational license. Philippe Vlaemminck came back during the morning with 2 other presentations : one on the impact of competition law , showing with examples ( without naming the country or operator involved ) the risks Lotteries can incur when addressing an opening market. In his third presentation he highlighted the possibilities and complexities of coordinated games. Florence Gras of EPMA did bring an excellent overview of the developments of the horserace betting industry , the need to search for solutions for the return to the sector and the need to protect the integrity.

During the afternoon delegates could listen to presentations by the Director of the Belgian gaming regulator, Peter Naessens,  on the need for strict regulation to address on line gambling and ways to enforce the laws against illegal operators. Further presentations on the same important issues were given by the Director of Operation of LONAGUI, Souphiane Sankhon, who explained the complex structure whereby LONAGUI is operating rather as a regulator in a context with various operators, Dawid Muller from South Africa , talking about the tensions between the central government of South Africa and the provinces on licensing a.o. secondary lottery operators. The final presentation was by the chief policy advisor to the Director General of Liberia, Roger B. Abim-Karmon  outlining the situation in his country. This session was followed by an extensive Q&A session showing the great interest and permanent involvement of the audience.

The last day was reserved for the debate on taxation models and issues. Questions on VAT , exemptions, corporate and gaming tax . The morning started with an excellent presentation by Mohamed Lahlou , CFO of la MDJS . He pointed to the various tax issues that need to be looked into further.

     

 

From LONAB , Mr DA Badé Laurent, the Treasory Inspector of the General Directorate of Treasury of Public Accounting of Burkina Faso provided a further overview of the complexity of tax matters in his country affecting the Lottery. He was followed by Mr. Pacôme Mondon of Mondon Conseil International who provided an overview on the issues in Ivory Coast discussing a.o. the question whether a lottery ticket was a service or good for VAT. In response the moderator, Philippe Vlaemminck  referred to the European Court of Justice who ruled in the Schindler case in 1994 that a lottery ticket was part of a service of a particular nature. He also mentioned the problem of State aid when I comes to exemptions, a matter that is equally of concern in the two African economic communities ( UEMOA and COMESA).  Mr Raphaël Jean-Louis Nougbode, Director of Audit and Internal control gave a presentation on the legal structure for LNB in Benin,  to conclude Mr El Hadji Ibrahim Diop former director of legislation at the Department of Taxes and Fields in Senegal and independent expert, outlined in an extensive overview the various tax issues to be looked into further as well as the need for a comprehensive governance. The seminar was closed by another round of in-depth questions and answers. Both the ALA president, Mr Amadou Samba Kane, and the representative of the ALA Secretary General, Driss Hamdoune Secretary-General of MDJS , emphasize the achievements to get ALA strengthened by setting up a Committee for Legal and Fiscal matters.

The moderator, Philippe Vlaemminck concluded the seminar by summing up the main issues which were addressed, expressing his optimism for the future of Lotteries in Africa and the opportunities provided by ALA.  He called the ALA seminar “memorable” by its organization, its strong content and the very active participation of the large audience. Many thanks to the tremendous work done by the excellent teams of LONACI and ALA