Africa’s gaming market is expected to top $1 billion in 2024

submited by

Style Pass

2024-04-01 13:00:18

The number of gamers in Africa has doubled over the last five years, according to the Dutch research company Newzoo. It predicts Africa’s gaming industry will generate more than $1 billion this year for the first time ever. Much of the growth, which is being led by Nigeria and South Africa, is down to the continent’s young population, increased internet access and cheaper smartphones. But paying for subscriptions and making in-game purchases remain a challenge.

“Card penetration in Africa is only 2.7%,” said Lucy Hoffman, co-founder and chief operating officer of Carry1st, a Cape Town-based video game publisher. “A lot of the traditional platforms like Google Play or Apple rely on credit cards, and therefore a lot of our players just can’t buy the content they want. A big focus for us has been sort of bridging the gap.”

“Essentially we integrate with payment methods that are available in Nigeria. That may be OPay, which is a wallet. It may be bank transfer, so like instantly transferring from one bank account to the next. And players can come to our shop or web shop and buy content that they love using payment methods that are accessible to them,” she explained.