- Carry1st, in collaboration with market researcher Newzoo, has released its latest report looking at the African gaming market.
- It estimates that the African gaming market reached over $1.8 billion in 2024.
- Mobile gaming is seen as a key driver here, accounting for 90 percent of the $1.8 billion gaming market last year.
The African gaming market made some significant strides in 2024. This according to a new report released by Carry1st in collaboration with market research firm Newzoo, which saw the African gaming market reach an estimated value of $1.8 billion last year.
In fact, the pair’s research found that 32 million new gamers were added to the mix in Africa during 2024, which is substantially higher than the global average.
This is an impressive statistic, but it is important to note that the total addressable market in Africa is far more than in other parts of the globe, where the gaming industry can be best described as more mature. As such, there is less cap for growth compared to our own continent.
That said, there is clearly plenty of interest in gaming locally from consumers, so hopefully on the back of this latest report, more game publishers/distributors take Africa a bit more seriously when it comes to new title launches, connectivity, and after-sales support.
Shifting back to the report and it notes of the aforementioned $1.8 billion in 2024, that it represents 12.4 percent year-on-year growth compared to 2023. This is also said to outpace the global gaming growth average by sixfold, which sits at roughly 2.1 percent year-on-year.
Unsurprisingly, given Carry1st’s focus on mobile, it is this gaming segment that has proved the main driver for 2024’s growth, accounting for 90 percent ($1.6 billion) of the market in Africa last year.
Of the estimated 349 million gamers across the African continent, 304 million of these are said to be mobile gamers first. The addition of 32 million new gamers on the continent represents a 10 percent year-on-year growth for this specific metric.
“These latest figures mark the first time data released by Carry1st has encompassed the entire African continent rather than being limited to sub-Saharan Africa, as it was in previous years. In 2021, when Carry1st’s analysis focused on sub-Saharan Africa, the number of gamers was estimated at 186 million,” shared Carry1st in a release with Hypertext.
“Africa’s gaming market is evolving rapidly, emerging as a major force in the global gaming landscape. In 2023, Newzoo and Carry1st projected that sub-Saharan Africa’s gaming market would reach $1 billion by 2024. This growth highlights Africa’s evolution from an emerging market to a major player in the global gaming industry,” it added.
Looking at some of the other figures shared in the report, the usual suspects appear, as Egypt led with $368 million in revenue, followed by Nigeria with $300 million, and South Africa with $278 million. Also of note were Eritrea and Niger being the fastest-growing countries in gaming revenue, while Equatorial Guinea and Seychelles were deemed to be the slowest-growing.
“Building on our previous collaborations with Newzoo, this new data illuminates the explosive growth of Africa’s gaming market. The dominance of mobile gaming, making up nearly 90% of the market, highlights the distinct path Africa is taking — leapfrogging traditional platforms. With such growth in players and spending, it’s clear that Africa is one of the few places to find secular growth in an industry that is otherwise showing signs of maturity,” enthused Carry1st CEO and co-founder, Cordel Robbin-Coker.
The numbers are promising, especially for those wanting to enter careers in and around the gaming industry locally, but as always need further context and a pinch of salt in order to tell the full picture.
Whether the African gaming market can make an even bigger impact compared to global peers, in order to be taken more seriously in 2025 and beyond, remains to be seen.
[Image – Alexander Mils on Unsplash]
