Why Africa will be the world’s fastest growing video game market

February 16, 2022 World Emerging Markets Industry Updates

Just over five years ago, African gamers were mostly playing games on consoles and personal computers at either cyber cafes or gaming joints, with very few people enjoying the games—most of which were foreign creations—at home.

Fast forward to 2022 and smartphones are the new primary platform and you can play your favorite game anywhere, with most characters, assets, and even languages adopting African characteristics.

The number of gamers on the continent has also more than doubled over the past five years and the growth of gaming industry in all aspects is taking an upward trajectory.

Mobile gamers are behind the rise of gaming in sub-Saharan Africa

A 2021 study commissioned by Newzoo, a games analytics company and Carry1st, a South African gaming platform, shows that the number of gamers in sub-Saharan Africa has risen to 186 million people from 77 million in 2015.

With 24 million gamers, South Africa tops the continent having 40% of its population playing followed by Ghana (27%) and Nigeria (23%) in second and third places respectively.

Kenya and Ethiopia finish fourth and fifth in the continent with 22% and 13% of their population into gaming respectively.

Majority of the playing population (95%) are mobile gamers with the covid-19 pandemic and increasing digitization across the continent said to be the biggest drivers to the numbers.

“Gaming in Africa is exploding. Crucially, this applies not only to people playing games, but also those willing to pay as well,” said Carry1st CEO and Co-founder, Cordel Robbin-Coker.

African developers are customizing games
Developers are fast adding new elements, with ownership being the latest addition allowing gamers to own characters and assets within the games- leveraging on block chain technology.