It is predicted that in 2024, the sub-Saharan African gaming industry will breach the $1 billion revenue mark for the first time, as reported by CNBC following Newzoo research. The games sector in this area generated $862.8 million in sales in 2022, representing an 8.7% increase in comparison to the previous year. This defies the wider trend of an overall market reduction of 4.3% resulting in global sales of $182.9 billion for the same period.
Sub-Saharan Africa's gaming industry is expected to pass the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2024, according to figures provided exclusively to CNBC by Dutch research firm Newzoo for African gaming startup Carry1st. Amidst Africa's sluggish economic growth, characterized by high net debt, inflation, and challenging financial conditions, the region's video game market is seemingly thriving. Newzoo's data shows games sold in the region generated $862.8 million in revenue in 2022, a notable 8.7% year-on-year increase, despite global video game activity decreasing as the impacts of Covid lockdowns wane and general cost of living rises. The global games market saw $182.9 billion of revenue in 2022, down 5.1% from the year before. Carry1st CEO Cordel Robbin-Coker, with headquarters in Cape Town, remarked that the most remarkable aspect of these results is the "underlying secular growth in the games market in sub-Saharan Africa." Robbin-Coker further added that even though Covid was an "important contributor" to this growth, it has since dissipated, and other markets are beginning to see slowdowns and even declines.
He added that they have the world’s fastest-growing population, with people accessing content for the first time at a rapid rate, mostly through mobile devices. Konvoy, a venture capital firm investing in the gaming sector, estimated that the gaming industry in Africa will expand by 15.7% in 2023 and 13.6% the following year - far more than earlier forecasts of 9.23% and 8.95%. As per Jackson Vaughan, the managing partner at Konvoy, the outlook for gaming in Africa is promising, largely thanks to the continent’s high smartphone adoption levels. GSMA predicts that by 2030, 87% of people in sub-Saharan Africa will own a smartphone, as compared to 51% in 2022. This massive youth population is embracing digital technology.
The decline in the cost of smartphones and the expansion of "digital-native" users has been a major contributor to this.
Analytics firm Ampere Analysis predicts that the global gaming industry will grow by 3.3% in 2023, though not at the same level as 2020 and 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic led to people having more free time to play games. The potential for user acquisition to be disrupted by future privacy platform changes as well as a broader audience being more susceptible to changing macroeconomic conditions has made predicting mobile games' market performance more complex.
The African gaming sector saw substantial growth due to increased smartphone usage. In 2022, mobile gaming revenue made up 90% of total sales, with Nigeria being the highest grossing country ($249 million) and South Africa second ($236 million). Ethiopia experienced the highest year-over-year increase (13%), and Uganda having the smallest (6%). Nigeria and South Africa earned twice the total of the other top eight countries combined. All ten countries showed growth over the past year.
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