The “Africa Gaming Market – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact and Forecasts (2022-2027)” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets’ offering.

The gaming industry is expected to register a CAGR of 12% during the forecast period (2021-2026). The Covid-19 pandemic had a positive effect on the African Gaming Market. The pandemic lead to mandated stay-at-home orders, which resulted in the customers spending more time and money on various games and gaming consoles, which led to the growth of the commercial segment of the gaming market.

Key Highlights

• The most recent trend is the growing availability and popularity of multi-functional gaming consoles, which are emerging in the market and helping in growing the market of video games in the region.
• The African region is one of the regions in the world where the youth population is increasing. By 2050, Africa’s young people, i.e., those aged between 0 and 24 years, will witness an increase of around 50%. Africa is expected to have the most significant number of young people. Africa’s youth is critical to the continent’s future when it comes to gaming.
• Moreover, African studios are making new inroads with the launch of original, locally produced content on Netflix. Several local content productions have also been nominated for several global awards, including the Oscars.
• The video games market in South Africa has witnessed strong growth in the past few years. It is expected that there will be more than 11 million gamers in South Africa. Gamers in the country are moving to social gaming, the free-to-play revenue model with downstream in-game purchases. It has become increasingly popular in the country.
• Owing to such factors, the market is expected to witness growth over the forecast period. Countries like Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda are the other top game developers in the African region. The gaming industry is also bringing millions of dollars to countries per year. This is for all categories of video games: mobile, PC, Xbox and PS.

Key Market Trends

Smartphone Segment is Expected to Have Major Market Share

• The proliferation of mobile technology and its associated use cases have unleashed technological evolution in the region. Further, the development of communication technology with leapfrogged traditional advances such as telephones has led to smartphones’ direct adoption.
• These instances have allowed the region to skip the cumbersome and time-consuming process involved in the traditional practices and gave access to newer technologies such as satellite that allowed for quicker installations and reduced costs.
• For instance, according to a report from GSMA published in 2019, an association of mobile network operators worldwide, there are over 747 million active mobile users in sub-Saharan Africa, thereby representing 75% of the population.
• Thereby, with the company marking its entrance into the smartphone market as the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa, it has boosted the region’s ambitions to become a regional technology hub and is expected to the smartphone gaming market.
• A comparative study conducted by the National Center biotechnology information on mobile gaming worldwide stated that smartphone gaming accounts for 24% in Africa.

Piracy, Laws and Regulations, and Concerns Relating to Fraud During Gaming Transactions will Impact the Growth of the Market

• Most African countries have gaming commissions and laws that regulate gambling. South Africa has clear gaming laws and regulations. It was the first country to create gambling regulations on the continent. Also, online casinos are popular in the country.
• In South Africa, several legislative attempts to further restrict online gambling and payment transactions of unlicensed operators have been postponed in recent years. However, some legislators and regulators at the provincial level have called for a less restrictive regime.
• A new advocacy organisation designed to collaborate, coordinate, partner, build and sustain the growth of esports on the continent has been formed. ESFA, or The Esports Federation of Africa, is established by a community of both private esports entities and national federations.
• WESCO affiliates it. With the launch of the ESFA, African gamers now have a voice, an advocate, an organisation with grassroots developments of players at its core. These will provide better opportunities and therefore strengthen the local market in the region.

Competitive Landscape

The gaming market is highly fragmented as the demand for online games and increasing penetration of mobile applications across the region will help attract new players to this market over the next few years. Some of the key developments in the market are Kucheza, Kagiso Interactive, Nyamakop, Celestial Games, Kuluya.

• February 2021- Designed to be accessible to all, Kucheza Gaming is on a mission to help the younger generation prepare for the future of work. They announced the School Esports (video game) League Season 2. Kids and teens come together to play Fortnite, Minecraft and F1 online every Friday for seven weeks. This is done in partnership with Mettlestate.
• March 2021 – Kuku-Ya-Ku is most famous for Monster Hunter World. They are also trying to target the six quests. They have launched the game “Iceborne”, which is proved as a successful launch.