Rwanda restarts National Lottery under 10-year Moja deal

Rwanda has signed a 10-year agreement with Moja Rwanda Ltd. to operate the country’s National Lottery, restoring a formal lottery structure after months without an operator.

Rwanda’s National Lottery is set to return under new management after the Rwanda Development Board signed a 10-year operating agreement with Moja Rwanda Ltd. The agreement was signed in Kigali on May 12 by RDB chief executive Jean-Guy Afrika and Georges Boukazi, managing director of Moja Group Inc.

The deal confirms Moja Rwanda Ltd., the local subsidiary of Moja Group, as the new operator of the National Lottery. RDB said the company will run the lottery in line with international standards, with proceeds expected to support public-interest programmes and national development priorities.

The agreement follows a period of disruption in Rwanda’s lottery sector. The National Lottery had been without an operator since October 2025, when the previous licence held by Inzozi Lotto was terminated after the operator failed to meet contractual and regulatory obligations. RDB later opened a new application process for qualified operators through the National Lottery and Gambling Commission.

Moja Rwanda’s appointment had already been approved in April, but the May 12 signing formalised the long-term operating structure. The new deal is therefore not only a change of operator, but also a restart of Rwanda’s national lottery system after several months of inactivity.

Rwanda’s gambling policy treats the National Lottery as a government-owned and centrally regulated product, while allowing its operation to be licensed to private operators under a special agreement with the regulatory authority. This model is intended to preserve public trust while using private-sector expertise to manage lottery operations.

The relaunch is important because Rwanda introduced the National Lottery in 2021 as a tool to generate sustainable funding for sports and wider national development programmes. Industry observers will now be watching how quickly Moja Rwanda can rebuild participation, restore confidence among players and demonstrate stronger compliance after the problems that led to the previous operator’s removal.

For Rwanda’s regulated gambling market, the 10-year agreement marks a new phase. If Moja delivers transparent operations and stable revenue flows, the National Lottery could again become a useful funding channel for public priorities. At the same time, the circumstances of the relaunch mean that regulatory oversight will remain central to the success of the project.