Although only a few big projects are aimed at African audiences, the African video game market has been growing rapidly in recent years.

For example, a report commissioned by analytics company Newzoo and South African gaming platform Carry1st found that the number of gamers in sub-Saharan Africa has almost tripled, from 77 million in 2015 to 186 million in 2021. These gamers mostly play on smartphones and tablets and account for 95% of the total number of gamers. 

Carry1st CEO and co-founder Cordel RobbinCoke is convinced that the future of gaming is in Africa. The young and dynamic population provides a massive influx of people ready to pay for games. 

Statistics show that revenue from games sold in Africa is steadily increasing, reaching $862.8 million in 2022, an 8.7% increase from 2021. This supports Robbin-Coker’s observation that the willingness to pay for games steadily increases across the continent. The video game market in Africa is expected to reach a billion dollars by 2024. 

Regarding country division, Nigeria was the continent’s top video game market in 2022, well ahead of South Africa. Although the gap is still small, it is predicted to increase. That said, Ethiopia has shown the fastest growth rate, at 13%. The combined income of Nigeria and South Africa was twice that of the other top eight African countries. This suggests the relative maturity of these markets compared to the rest of the continent.

In addition to video games and mobile gaming, sports betting is also growing in popularity in Africa. The most popular sports vary from country to country. But in many regions, cricket is among the leaders. This is demonstrated by bookmaker review sites. If you study Google search results, you can find the Cricketbettingapps website describing the top cricket betting apps for Android and iOS. These are the apps that people most often use to bet on cricket and many other sports.

Of course, for now, African states are not among the countries with high popularity of betting and gambling. But if growth continues, that will change.

The growth prospects for the gaming industry in Africa are promising. This is mainly due to the increasing number of smartphone owners. In addition, rapid urbanization and rising incomes of African consumers will likely drive the market for consoles, which are rare and expensive in most African countries.

Thus, Sony Innovation Fund, the venture capital arm of consumer electronics giant Sony Corporation, is already working in the African market to capitalize on the long-term growth prospects of the African video game sector. For example, a partnership between Carry1st and Sony Ventures Corporation could open new doors for PlayStation in Africa.

There is already a gradually growing interest in console gaming in Africa, especially in countries such as Nigeria, Morocco, and Algeria. However, there are also challenges, such as low internet penetration, high data costs, unreliable power supplies, and problems with gaming software and hardware availability.