Africa Reports | Game Industry Library

The Middle East and Africa gaming market is projected to grow from $7.4 billion in 2024 to over $19.4 billion by 2033, representing an 11% CAGR driven by mobile-first adoption.
Investment is highly concentrated, with Israel leading at nearly $1 billion raised across 146 startups, followed by Turkey at $961 million and Nigeria at $371 million.
Turkey has established itself as a 'unicorn factory' through major deals, including Peak Games’ $1.8 billion acquisition and Dream Games’ $2.6 billion capital raise.

Lucidity Insights

The African gaming market is overwhelmingly mobile-centric, with 92% of users playing on phones and Android devices accounting for 92% of all downloads.
Monetization is driven by microtransactions, utilized by 63% of players, with Kenya serving as a key market where mobile money accounts for over 60% of payment methods.
Player engagement is high, as 78% of respondents played within the last day and one-third of gamers spend three or more hours per session.

GeoPoll

The African games industry is projected to exceed $1 billion in revenue in 2024, driven by a mobile-first market that generates nearly 90% of total sector earnings.
Nigeria has shown the most significant momentum in the region, with mobile revenues increasing fivefold since 2019, while South Africa remains the most lucrative individual market.
The developer ecosystem has grown to approximately 250 studios by 2024, with West Africa emerging as the primary hub after a fivefold increase in active studios over the past year.

Maliyo GamesJan 2025

The African gaming market is a high-growth mobile-first sector, with the player base expanding from 77 million in 2015 to 186 million in 2021 and annual revenues projected to exceed $1 billion by 2024.
Infrastructure instability remains the primary barrier to professionalization, with 60% of industry participants identifying poor power supply and high internet costs as critical obstacles to growth.
The industry is currently in a nascent, hobbyist-dominated state where 59% of developers have never secured external investment and only 36% earn a full-time living from their work.

Games Industry AfricaMar 2024

Awareness of locally developed games is extremely low, with over 82% of gamers in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon reporting they have never heard of an African-produced title.
Financial infrastructure is a major barrier to monetization, as approximately 51% of surveyed gamers lack a bank card to facilitate in-game purchases.
The market is dominated by a young, mobile-first demographic, with 45% of players aged 19–25 and over 80% utilizing Android devices.

The Game Hub SenegalJan 2024

Between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, mobile app installs across Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya grew by 41%, with Nigeria leading the growth at 43%.
The gaming sector saw a 50% jump in installs during Q2 2020, while in-app advertising revenue for gaming surged by 167% between Q2 2020 and Q1 2021.
In-app purchasing revenue for gaming peaked in Q3 2020, contributing one-third of the total annual revenue.

AppsFlyerJan 2021