Following its launch in Nigeria last October, AfroMillionsLotto has linked up with leading Nigerian payments provider Paga to offer payments for lotto games in Naira, making it even easier to play for Africa’s biggest jackpots.

James Leppard, Ofertas365 CEO, stated: “We are delighted to partner with Paga to offer players a convenient and familiar payment process in Naira. We look forward to a growing number of players taking advantage to play for our large jackpot prizes.”

Users register at www.afromillionslotto.com or one of partners’ lotto sites to set up their account and enjoy the benefits and convenience of purchasing your tickets in Naira – using Visa, Mastercard or Verve, Paga wallet or visiting a Paga agent and depositing cash into your lotto account.

Tickets now cost just ₦200 and jackpots start at ₦1 billion. If there isn’t a jackpot winner, the prize money rolls over, increasing by ₦100 million each draw until it reaches a maximum of₦2 billion. There are also nine, ‘Candy Crush’ style, Instant Win games, which can be played for fun or to win cash prizes of up to ₦10 million.

New players can still benefit from our 3 free tickets promotion!

According to Paga Co-founder, Jay Alabraba: “It has been a pleasure working with the AfroMillionsLotto team to launch the Naira payment services using Paga’s online and offline solutions. They have a lot of big jackpot games planned for rollout in the African market and we are excited to partner with them on this journey.” 

However, Paga should be pulling bigger strings than lotto. With former Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Chief Economist, Jim O’Neill as an investor, Paga should have raked in a partnership with PayPal to simplify payments to firms in Nigeria and allow shoppers in Nigeria use PayPal easily and quickly.

O’Neill says he is a firm believer in Nigeria’s potential and is confident that the entrepreneurial abilities of the countries younger demographic will be a catalyst for growth over the next 20 years. And that indigenous startups, such as Paga, who are focused on a key sector − payments, will be the major drivers of growth.

O’Neill says he believes Paga’s vision to deliver greater convenience to businesses and individuals whether they are banked or un−banked and should be a resource on its board to push for bigger partnerships with firms such as PayPal, TransferTo among others.

Paga earlier on signed a deal with Western Union to allow Paga users receive a Western Union Money Transfer® directly into their Paga account. Using  Paga’s multi-channel platform, customers withdraw the money by sending it to a bank account, withdrawing from an ATM or through Paga’s vast network of over 10,000 agents nationwide. Consumers can also choose to pick-up their funds at Western Union® Agent locations across the country.

Just like international money transfers for pick-up via Paga can be initiated at westernunion.com in 24 countries, or at participating Western Union Agent locations worldwide and through its retail Agent network of more than 4900 locations in Nigeria, Paga can pull this off for PayPal by doing all the KYC and fraud detection to free businesses and individuals from the pain of receiving and or sending payments.

The PayPal, M-PESA and TransferTo collaboration is also possible in Nigeria to enable users seamlessly move money between their Paga accounts and PayPal accounts to eliminate the delays and barriers that have hindered consumers and businesses in the country from taking full advantage of global eCommerce.

Efi Dahan, General Manager for the Middle East, Africa and Russia, PayPal says PayPal’s collaboration with M-PESA is part of the company’s long-term strategy to enable eCommerce and democratise financial services on the African continent. Paga should be pursuing such deals too and not just Lotto as linking up PayPal through Paga will mean more international transactions for both Paga and the local traders closed out of the global digital economy.

Paga should get a meeting with TransferTo which operates a global Cross-Border Mobile Payments Network for emerging markets. TransferTo is the technology partner between M-Pesa and PayPal and the Paga-PayPal deal will be a great one on its CV as bridging the payments gap in emerging markets is the cornerstone of TransferTo’s mission.

Peter De Caluwe, CEO, TransferTo said, “This service is a major milestone in the evolution of cross-border mobile payments, in that TransferTo’s technology is creating a fundamental link between M-PESA users in Kenya and PayPal’s global network, and seamlessly connecting Kenyan shoppers and businesses to the global eCommerce world.”

Paga Founder and CEO, Tayo Oviosu understands the unique challenges faced by Nigerians looking for a simpler way to make payments. He has been there and still is. He knows that the issues around payments are far reaching as payments go past being able to move money from point A to B. To Paga, every transaction that occurs on its platform is more than just money but someone trying to pay for something in a less stressful way. A deal with PayPal will be a big solution to make everyday life possible for Nigerians.