Liberia's plan to introduce a Central Monitoring System (CMS) for the gambling sector is facing mounting scrutiny following questions about the legal formation of the winning bidder, potential conflicts of interest, and the status of the contract's execution.
Documents reviewed by this paper indicate that Agra Technologies LLC, the company awarded the CMS contract, was incorporated on January 31, 2025. However, the CMS tender reportedly closed in September 2024. The agreement was signed on February 5, 2025.
The timeline has prompted questions about whether Agra Technologies legally existed at the time bids were submitted and evaluated, and whether the company met tender requirements relating to incorporation, tax compliance, and past performance documentation.
Procurement regulations typically require bidding entities to be duly registered and compliant at the time of submission. It remains unclear whether Agra Technologies participated directly in the September 2024 bid or whether another entity submitted the proposal on its behalf.
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Officials at the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) have not yet publicly clarified whether the award complied with Liberia's procurement laws.
Representation and Industry Links
Agra Technologies is represented locally by William F. Saamoi Jr., who also heads Telecom International Alliance (TIA). TIA previously held a GSM revenue monitoring contract that was suspended by the Executive Branch amid concerns about implementation and oversight.
Corporate records further show that individuals linked to TIA have professional associations with entities operating within Liberia's gambling sector.
Avishai Marziano, who has been associated with TIA, is also linked to Fido Technologies, operator of Starbet. Fido's ownership structure reportedly includes IGLMS (Hong Kong), a company involved in supplying monitoring systems to governments in several African jurisdictions. Mya Padmore, identified in corporate filings as a co-founder of both Fido and IGLMS, is reported to have business ties with Marziano.
The overlap has raised questions among industry stakeholders about whether sufficient firewalls exist between companies involved in operating gambling platforms and those tasked with monitoring industry revenues.
Neither Agra Technologies nor TIA has publicly responded to requests for comment on the nature of these relationships.
Contract Execution Questions
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Additional concerns have been raised regarding the execution status of the CMS agreement.
Multiple sources familiar with the matter say key ministerial approvals -- including from the Ministries of Justice and Finance -- have not yet been finalized. If confirmed, this could affect the contract's enforceability under Liberian law.
Despite this, gambling operators have reportedly been instructed to integrate with the CMS platform and begin sharing transaction and revenue data.
Officials at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the Ministry of Justice have not yet issued formal statements clarifying whether all statutory approvals have been completed.
Regulatory Oversight at Issue
The CMS project is intended to improve transparency and revenue collection in Liberia's gambling sector, which authorities say generates significant financial flows annually.
However, critics argue that the combination of telecom monitoring and gambling oversight contracts within a network of related actors risks concentrating regulatory influence in a small group of companies and individuals.
Government officials have not publicly addressed these concerns.
As questions continue to surface, legal experts say the matter may require review by oversight institutions to determine whether procurement procedures were properly followed and whether conflict-of-interest safeguards were adequately observed.
