An incisive report illuminates the gaming industry’s bright future in Sub-Saharan Africa. The market for mobile gaming has seen very rapid expansion.
The gaming market in Sub-Saharan Africa is anticipated to surpass $1 billion in sales for the first time in 2024. Despite the continent’s troubles with economic growth, inflation, financial difficulties, and high net debt, these statistics, produced by Dutch research firm Newzoo for African gaming startup Carry1st, show a robust market for gaming in Africa.
According to the World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth rate decreased from 4.1% in 2021 to 3.6% in 2022, but the continent’s video game business has been booming. According to data from Newzoo, the region’s game sales brought in $862.8 million in 2022, a rise of 8.7% from the previous year.
Contrary to the global decline in video game activity, which has been occurring as consumers cut down on their spending as a result of rising living expenses, the African gaming sector is expanding. The worldwide gaming market is anticipated to expand again in 2023, with a predicted 3.3% increase, but it is unlikely that the pandemic’s quick expansion will be repeated.
The predictability of the mobile gaming sector is threatened by potential disruptions in user growth and shifting macroeconomic conditions. Nevertheless, because to the extensive use of smartphones and the region’s young population’s embrace of digital technology, the gaming business in Africa is still thriving.
The CEO of Carry1st, Cordel Robbin-Coker, emphasised the amazing “underlying secular growth in the games market in sub-Saharan Africa.” Cordel Robbin-Coker is headquartered in Cape Town. Robbin-Coker acknowledged that COVID-19 made a big contribution to this increase but pointed out that other markets are currently seeing a pause or even a fall.
The research also focuses on 10 significant nations in the area, all of which experienced annual increase. Nigeria and South Africa emerged as the top revenue producers, bringing in twice as much money as the next eight nations combined. Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, Tanzania, Cameroon, and Uganda are among the other important nations.
Nearly 90% of all game sales in 2022 came from mobile gaming, which brought in $778.6 million. With $249 million, Nigeria had the highest annual gaming revenue, closely followed by South Africa ($236 million). With $46 million, $42 million, and $34 million, respectively, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Ghana also displayed sizable income contributions. Uganda had the weakest growth, at 6%, while Ethiopia had the largest year-over-year growth, at 13%.
“This latest data demonstrates that Africa continues to be the fastest-growing mobile gaming market in the world,” Cordel Robbin-Coker said in a comment regarding the report. This tendency is especially noteworthy at a time when Western economies are showing symptoms of slowing or even negative growth. He went on to say that Africa has the potential to join Southeast Asia as a prominent player in the international gaming market. He cited the large rise in internet users and the quick uptake of digital payments as contributing factors.
Tom Wijman, Lead Games Analyst at Newzoo, emphasised Africa’s distinct advantages, including the continent’s population growth rate, which is the fastest in the world, and the rate at which people access the internet, mostly through mobile phones.
In order to further develop the African gaming sector, he emphasised the demand for gaming content as well as the significance of infrastructure upgrades and the incorporation of digital payment methods into gaming platforms.
