ResearchAndMarkets.com posted a report on the development of the African gaming market after the pandemic. According to the study, in the period from 2021 to 2026, it will grow by 12% annually.
Key factors
- One of the latest trends is the growing popularity and availability of gaming consoles. This contributes to the growth of the video game market in the region;
- There is an increase in the number of young people in the African region. It is expected that by 2050 the number of young people (up to 24 years old) will grow by 50%. Young people are the main consumer of games in Africa;
- The South African gaming market has been showing steady growth over the past few years. It is expected that soon the number of gamers in this region will reach 11 million. Especially popular here are social games, whose monetization is based on fritupley.
The development leaders in this region are the countries of Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Now the gaming industry brings millions of dollars to these countries every year. This applies to all segments of the gaming industry: mobile games, desktop, and consoles.
Mobile games
It is expected that the mobile games segment will get the main market share. Analysts think so because:
- the widespread use of smartphones has given impetus to the development of high technologies in the region. This allowed local countries to abandon the introduction of traditional communication methods and switch immediately to new technologies. For example, to satellite communication systems;
- According to the GSMA (Association of Mobile Operators) report published in 2019, there are more than 747 million active mobile users in sub-Saharan Africa, which is 75% of the population;
Local laws and support for local esports will affect the growth of the market
- In most African countries, there are special commissions and laws that regulate gambling. South Africa became the first country to create such laws on the continent. They control, for example, the online casino industry, which is very popular among South African citizens;
- In recent years, several legislative attempts to further restrict online gambling have failed in South Africa;
- At the same time, an organization has emerged designed to develop and support esports in the region – ESFA or The Esports Federation of Africa;
- It was also joined by WESCO (World Esports Consortium). With the start of the ESFA, African players have their own representative offering new opportunities for development. This naturally strengthened the local gaming market.