Egypt leads Africa’s games market with $368m in revenue

Egypt leads Africa's games revenue forecasts for 2025 with $368 million and over 20m players.

That's according to a new Nigerian Gaming and Esports report by Maliyo Games, which showed that South Africa follows with 26.5m players generating $278m. 

Nigeria's games industry accounts for the highest number of players, amassing 46.5m of Africa’s 349m gamers and generating around $250-300m in revenue. 

Moreover, about 90% of Nigeria's 46.5m gamers play on mobile, making it the country’s dominant gaming platform.

Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire are emerging games markets, earning $46m and $31.9m respectively, while Africa overall generates $2.1 billion in games revenue.

Esports growth 

On the esports side, the report showed that Africa generates around $40m from competitive gaming, and is expected to cross $60m by 2025.

South Africa leads with $7 to $10m in revenue and up to 3m viewers. Egypt follows with $5m to $7m and as many as 6m viewers. Despite a population of 235m, Nigeria comes third with an estimated $3 to $6m and one to three million viewers. 

Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire trail behind, with revenues under $2m and around $600,000, respectively, and smaller audiences below 1.5m.

“Today’s industry rests largely on the efforts of a few determined individuals and companies; pioneers who have navigated structural, institutional, and social challenges to lay esports’ foundation in Nigeria," said Maliyo Games founder Hugo Obi.