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The African gaming market amounted to $1.8 billion last year, a new report found, growing six times as fast as the global average.
The number of gamers in Africa also rose to nearly 350 million, a 10% increase from 2023, said the report by the Dutch games data platform Newzoo for South African games publisher Carry1st.
The findings show how Africa’s gaming market has shifted from “emerging to emerged,” Spencer Ma, a Carry1st growth director, told Semafor. “This isn’t about catching up from a low baseline, it’s about a market that’s growing rapidly on its own terms,” he said.
Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa drove the biggest growth in African gaming in 2024, spurred by large youth populations, increasing smartphone use, and improved internet access. The vast majority of the revenue generated last year came from mobile games, the report highlighted, with the data taking into account game purchases, in-game spending, and subscription services.
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African gaming revenue growth comes despite macro challenges across the continent’s leading economies last year. While reforms in Nigeria gave rise to high inflation that cut deep into consumer spending, gaming revenue reached $300 million in the country, according to Newzoo — only Egypt reported a higher figure.
The fastest growth in revenue last year was recorded in Eritrea and Niger, in line with increased interest in digital services in both countries, the report said.
Some of the most popular games played in Africa, including Call of Duty and PUBG Mobile, are products of gaming giants like the California-based Roblox and Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent. The dominance of mobile games on apps instead of consoles comes as global phone manufacturers push into Africa, with smartphone shipments to the continent eclipsing phones with basic functions for the first time last year.
Chinese smartphone maker Transsion has been most successful in this move, owning half of Africa’s smartphone market share thanks to its Tecno, Infinix, and Itel brands, which come with low-cost options that retail for under $100. Their affordability compared to high-end options from Samsung, Apple, and Huawei puts more phones in more African hands, and subsequently more gamers.
However poor connectivity due to underdeveloped telecoms infrastructure still constrains gaming adoption in Africa, particularly stifling data-heavy and multiplayer games, Carry1st’s Ma said.
Room for Disagreement
Many African gamers purchase games but less than a third spend up to $5 monthly, pointing to a consumer base that is “cost-conscious” even as it is willing to spend, found a survey by Geopoll last year. And for a significant number of gamers, most games played in Africa are still based on characters developed for other audiences, the gap in local cultural representation remaining as wide as in previous years, according to the findings.
Notable
- Disney’s launch of a mobile game for its Nigeria-based Iwájú series highlights the growing pool of game developers in Africa, DW reported.