The evolution of gaming in Africa has been quite the journey. From the early days of shared consoles at makeshift gaming houses and cyber cafes where PlayStation games like FIFA, Mortal Kombat, and Winning Eleven were fixtures, the inkling of how games would unfold as a pivotal part of the country’s entertainment was there, even though not quite evident.

But over the past decade, we’ve seen an insane surge in the gaming industry, especially as the proliferation of smartphones made games more mobile, accessible, and perfectly suited for the continent’s youth-centric demographic. It’s becoming an increasingly robust space in the gaming industry, with diversity in console games, PC games, mobile games, and cloud games. According to a joint data from Africa’s leading game publisher Carry1st and Newzoo, a Netherlands-based gaming analytics company, the volume of gamers in Africa increased by about 32 million in 2024, with over 80 percent of the entire player base composed of mobile gamers. 

Among Africa’s 54 countries, the trio of South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria lead the charge, while North African countries such as Egypt and Morocco are fast rising. As established earlier, the widespread penetration of mobile phones and internet access plays a major role in this growth in numbers, but beyond that, the customisation of video games to fit the African narrative and the incentivisation that comes with the professional and organised sub of of video games (electronic sports) are also key drivers. 

Best known as esports, this competitive side of video gaming is growing into a global cultural phenomenon, and Africa isn’t left behind. The ecosystem revolves around four main pillars: the players and teams that form its backbone; the streamers who entertain and engage audiences through live gameplay broadcasts on platforms like Twitch and YouTube; the content creators who produce diverse gaming-related content; and the game publishers, third-party organisers, and esports organisations that keep the mill running.

If there were any doubts about the industry’s growth, 2024 shattered them with the level of competition and revenue it brought forth. Africa’s gaming industry generated $1.8 billion in revenue in 2024, a figure that’s six times higher than the global average, per Carry1st.

Competitions like Cade Esports’s Caade24, Gamr’s X3 Xhodus, and Gameverse Africa’s Game Expo 2024, among many others, commanded the gaming affair, offering substantial prize pools and attracting international attention as pro-gamers established their dominance, with fast-rising talents also making statement entries.

Nonetheless, even as gaming becomes a respected and financially rewarding career path for youths on the continent, gender disparity remains an issue within the industry. With an almost equal female representation of gamers globally, ESPN reports that female representation on the continent lags heavily behind, and this is quite evident in the earnings reports. Just like we have a wide earning gap in the conventional sporting world, there’s a similar situation in the gaming industry, where female gamers in the continent’s hotspots — South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya — are struggling in the rankings.

Pro-female initiatives and events like Women in Games Africa, GIRLGAMER Esports Festival, and Gamr’s Women in eSports exemplify what the industry needs to balance its growth and enable more support for female gamers like Sylvia Gathoni, aka QueenArrow, the first Kenyan esports athlete to feature on Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 list.

That said, the industry is also confronted with infrastructural challenges, chief among them being inconsistent internet connectivity, which continues to hamper seamless gameplay, streaming quality, and overall participation on the global stage.