THE NLA GOOD CAUSES FOUNDATION

The NLA Good Causes Foundation was launched in October 2021. Formerly known as Special Projects, the Foundation's activities stem from the Authority's National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722), Section 2 Clause 3 of Act 722 states that “there shall be conducted as part of the operation of National Lotto a lottery with the object of providing care and protection for the physically or mentally afflicted, the needy, the aged, orphans, and destitute children”. This alignment ensures the foundation's legitimacy and underscores its purpose.

The Foundation, headed by the Coordinator, Mr Kadiri Abdul Rauf Issifu, spearheads the Authority's Corporate Social Responsibility and aims to develop, implement, and maintain a structure based on four main pillars approved by the NLA Governing Board.

They are Health, Education, Youth and Sports Development, and Arts and Culture.

Health Pillar

The Health Pillar focuses on infrastructure support, training mental health workers, providing hospital supplies, and expanding nationwide medical outreaches on specific ailments.

Education Pillar

The Education Pillar focuses on awarding educational support to brilliant but needy students. NLA also supports educational institutions with the necessary logistics and sponsors programs and projects that meet the Foundation's objectives.

Youth and Sports Development Pillar

The Youth and Sports Development Pillar covers capacity building for the youth and supports sporting activities, focusing on developing lesser-known sports. It also assists SMEs owned by young people with technical and skill support to help them be innovative. Special attention is also given to persons with disabilities and special needs who may want to enter entrepreneurship.

The Arts and Culture Pillar

The Arts and Culture Pillar supports projects safeguarding and protecting Ghanaian cultural events and educational programs.

The NLA Governing Board also determines discretionary projects that the Authority undertakes annually.

PROJECTS

For the 2025 year, the NLA Good Causes Foundation has supported key community projects and social interventions across the country.

A donation of GHS 100,000.00 was presented to the Upper West Region to support the fight against the meningitis outbreak, while another GHS 100,000.00 was given to the Volta Regional Coordinating Council for victims of tidal waves.

A 3-unit ultra-modern classroom block with offices, washrooms, a kitchen, a storeroom, and a mechanized borehole has been completed and commissioned at Akanteng in the Lower West Akim Municipality of the Eastern Region.

In the Northern Region, the Foundation donated GHS 50,000.00 towards the refurbishment of the Gbewaa Palace in Yendi.

The annual Kwahu Festival also received support through presentations of assorted drinks and cash to the palaces of the Kwahumanhene and the Nkwatiamanhene.

Additionally, GHS 60,000.00 was donated to the Gbese Traditional Council for the Homowo Festival.

To promote youth and sports development, Real Tamale United received GHS 60,000.00 for their Premier League playoff. Blind Support, an NGO empowering persons with disabilities, received GHS 100,000.00 for a skills training program, while the National Youth Authority was supported with GHS 50,000.00 for the National Youth Festival.

Some of the projects undertaken under the various pillars include:

HEALTH

  • Medical Outreach in communities, Korle-Wokon, Somanya, Kadjebi, Boanakye and Fiapre
  • Donation of Medical Equipment (incubators) to the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital in collaboration with the Kokrokoo Foundation and Hope Exchange Hospital in Kumasi
  • Refurbishment of Tema Polyclinic Recovery Ward, Koforidua Central Hospital Children's Ward
  • Support for Weija Leprosarium, Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Bahass Foundation, Wa and Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital.
  • Support to Individuals with Medical Ailments (Baby Selina with Spinal Bifida)
  • Sharing of sanitary towels for pupils in the Afigya Sekyere District
HEALTH

EDUCATION

  • Building of a Smart Lab for the Borstal Correctional Institute in Accra
  • Providing brilliant but needy students with scholarships
  • Refurbishing Schools - Mamfe Presby Primary School, Gonten Primary School
  • Establishing an IT Lab in collaboration with Ask Ghana for schools in the Agona West Municipality
  • Providing educational materials and equipment for some remote schools
  • Construction of a Three-Unit Classroom Block With Ancillary Facilities In Akyem Dwenase
EDUCATION

YOUTH AND SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

  • Support the Government's YouStart Program with Ten Million Ghana Cedis (GHS 10,000,000.00) in 2022 with a promise of an additional Ten Million Ghana Cedis in 2023.
  • Support the Youth of Adumasa through the Nana Serwaa Brakutu Humanitarian Fund with training in Beads Making and Dress Making
  • Support to Hasaacas Ladies with One Hundred Thousand Cedis
  • Support to Ampem Darkoa Ladies with Forty Thousand Ghana Cedis
  • Support to Henrietta Armah for an International Taekwondo Tournament in Austria
YOUTH AND SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

ARTS AND CULTURE

  • Celebration of our culture through Festivals and our Community Draws or with Cash Donations - Kwaku Obomeng, Hogbetsotso, Fetu Afehye, Nsawam Adoagyir Odwira, Homowo, Akwasidae at Akwamufie among many others
  • Partnering with the Citi FM Heritage Caravan to celebrate our cultural heritage.
ARTS AND CULTURE

While the Authority focuses on granting external support to select groups as the National Lotto Act dictates, the Authority believes it should take care of its own. Over 150 staff members have been awarded scholarships and given support for medical aid.

Impacting Lives Through Games

$83 B

Contributed by WLA member lotteries in 2022

$1.6 T

Raised by WLA member lotteries since 1999

According to the World Lottery Association ( WLA), “In FY 2022, WLA member lotteries contributed almost USD 83 billion to fund good causes, and since 1999, they have raised an estimated USD 1.6 trillion.” These funds support education, care for the aged, grassroots sports, and the respective communities of member countries.

The National Lottery Authority, a member of the World Lottery Association and African Lotteries Association (ALA), has replicated the same by impacting lives and making transformative changes in numerous communities and institutions nationwide through the building of recreational centres, sanitary facilities, mechanized boreholes, refurbishing schools and hospitals, granting scholarships to brilliant but needy students, and providing educational and medical equipment, amongst many other things.

The Foundation draws its proceeds from the NLA's Caritas Lottery Platform, which regulates all consumer promotional schemes with elements of chance, raffle draws, points-based selection criteria, etc., and allotted amounts from its third-party collaborators, private lotto operators and other sponsors.

The NLA's investment in these projects is not just a statutory obligation but a way for the organization to give back to the communities in which it operates and to show its patrons that their contributions, even when they don't win, support a worthy cause.

As Kathy Kalvin says, the NLA believes that "Giving is not just about donating; it's about making a difference," which is the difference it seeks to make with its Good Causes Foundation thus the motto, Impact Through Games.