Gaming continues to be one of the fast expanding sectors in most countries and holds huge potentials to raise substantial revenues for most countries. A report on gaming on the African continent revealed that Ghana generated US$42 million as total revenues through gaming last year.

The report revealed that 27% of people in Ghana play games as compared to 23% in Nigeria, 22% in Kenya, and 13% in Ethiopia. South Africa has the highest saturation of gamers, with 24m people playing within a population of 59m (40%) as at the end of 2021.

The growth in gaming in Ghana further lends support for the GRA’s resolve to start taxing online gaming activities by April 2022. The Authority stated that taxing of e-commerce as well as the gaming and betting industries will help increase domestic revenue collection and most especially, help the GRA meet its domestic revenue target of GH₵80.30 billion this year.

It is estimated that Ghana loses over GH¢300 million annually in revenue due to leakages in the gaming sector and hence taxing the sector will further cushion the country’s revenue mobilization which remains low.

The 2021 report which closely examined five major countries in the region (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa), revealed that South Africa leads the way in total annual gaming revenue in 2021 ($290m), followed by Nigeria ($185m). With a total gaming revenue of $42 million last year, Ghana was the third largest gaming market in Africa in terms of revenues generated through gaming. This was followed by Kenya ($38m), and Ethiopia ($35m).

Through traditional channels, a higher proportion of South African gamers pay for games (43%) than Ghanaians and Ethiopians (33%) or Nigerians and Kenyans (32%).

Fast growing desire for gaming in Sub-Saharan Africa

The report commissioned by Carry1st and Newzoo, showed that the number of Sub-Saharan gamers has more than doubled in the last five years and the region is projected to be the fastest-growing globally for both mobile gamers and people who pay for games.

Carry1st CEO and Co-founder, Cordel Robbin-Coker, expressed that with the fast growing gamers on the continent, Africa holds the future of gaming in the world.

“Africa is the future of gaming. Thanks to the massive influx of people coming online and a young and dynamic population, gaming in Africa is exploding. Crucially, this applies not only to people playing games, but also those willing to pay as well”.
Cordel Robbin-Coker

The report showed that total gamers in Sub-Saharan Africa grew from 77million to 186 million people between 2015 and 2021. The report further highlighted that the 186 million gamers on the continent last year accounted for 16% of the 1.14 billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the report, of these 186 million gamers, 177 million (95%) of gamers across the region played on a smartphone or tablet, as opposed to consoles and computers.

This rapid growth has been accelerated by increasing digitization, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, and is largely driven by mobile gaming.

Traditionally, Africa has been overlooked by the international gaming and investment community, given its reputation as a market that is hard to penetrate because of fragmented digital payments and distribution ecosystems. However, with a population of 1.3 billion people and an average age of 19 (compared to 44 in Western Europe), Africa is likely to become one of the most promising gaming markets globally, the report stated.

On the outlook for gaming on the African continent, the report indicated that at a projected CAGR of 9.4% between 2020 and 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa’s mobile player audience is projected to be the fastest-growing globally. Like mobile players, the group of paying gamers in Sub-Saharan Africa is also projected to be the fastest-growing in the world.