These territories offer two decisive advantages: a young, connected population and competitive production costs. In a sector where the development of a blockbuster can exceed $100 million, the outsourcing of certain tasks – animation, design, or quality testing – has become common practice.
Western studios first relocated to Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia; they are now looking toward the African continent. But Africa is not merely a receptacle for Western outsourcing or a consumer of video games. The continent is also establishing itself as a creator and producer of games.
A modest but promising market
With nearly 350 million players, Africa constitutes one of the most dynamic talent pools on the planet. The video game market there generated $1.8 billion in 2024, before exceeding $2.2 billion in 2025. This growth rests almost exclusively on mobile, which represents about 90% of usage and revenue, a rate well above the global average (around 50%). The smartphone has established itself as the continent’s leading « console, » thanks to falling device prices and improving mobile networks.
In this context, the local ecosystem is beginning to take shape. Africa is said to have more than 250 studios, still small in size but growing in number. Cape Town, Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo, and Rabat are emerging as regional hubs where developers, incubators, and investors come together.
For Jay Shapiro, founder of the Kenyan studio Usiku Games and president of the Pan African Gaming Group (PAGG), the potential is obvious: « There is a real need for more local content, » he told the French daily Le Monde in 2024.
Among African countries, South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt dominate production, but Morocco is trying to close the gap by betting on a proactive public strategy. The implementation of the roadmap launched in late 2023 by the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication aims to organize a still-fragmented industry and to attract foreign studios.
The ambition is clear: to make Morocco, and in particular the capital, Rabat, a hub capable of welcoming international studios and training local talent. This policy draws on a highly connected youth population. The country already has 8 to 10 million players, the majority of them under the age of 35, a major asset in an industry built on creativity and artistic and technical skills.
Beyond video game development, e-sports is becoming a driver of structure. Its value now exceeds $40 million in Africa, with increasingly professionalized events, such as Comic Con Africa or continental championships that attract sponsors and audiences. This momentum creates a virtuous circle: e-sports stimulates demand for infrastructure, training, and local content, contributing to the professionalization of the entire value chain.
A sector in transition
Despite this momentum, the African gaming industry still faces structural obstacles: difficulty accessing financing, fragmentation of national markets, problems related to online payment, and Internet infrastructure in certain regions.
« Africa’s video game development ecosystem is entering a transition phase, » concluded the authors of the « State of African Games » report, published in February 2026 by the platform Games Industry Africa.
« On the one hand, the continent has gained a tangible global presence, contributing to millions of units sold and demonstrating that games developed in Africa can achieve international success. On the other hand, the sector remains highly concentrated, with South Africa accounting for a significant share of developers and commercial performance, » they note.
A strategic opportunity for the continent
Much like Nollywood for film or Afrobeats for music, video games could thus become the next African cultural and creative industry to establish itself on the world stage. The major platforms, from Sony to Microsoft, are already expanding their support programs for African developers, aware that the next large gaming communities are to be found in these emerging markets.
For African countries, the stakes go beyond mere entertainment. Gaming combines artistic creation, software engineering, and content exports, three high-value-added fields. In economies seeking diversification, it represents a means of creating skilled jobs and integrating into the global digital economy.
« Pricing and game engine trends show that African developers are broadly aligning with global industry practices, which suggests growing professionalization and technical maturity, » state the authors of the Games Industry Africa report. However, « the geographic concentration of this success underscores the need for stronger support structures in more countries in order to ensure more equitable growth across the continent, » they recommend.
Although Africa still represents only a fraction of the global market, its trajectory recalls that of Southeast Asia fifteen years ago. « The next phase of game development in Africa will likely be shaped by studios that combine the global appeal of the genre with a distinctive cultural identity, while targeting underserved market segments, » predict the report’s authors.
Thus, with coherent public policies, investment in training, and access to financing, the continent could establish itself as the next frontier of video games – no longer merely a consumer market, but a genuine territory of production.
Written in French by TelQuel Impact, edited in English by Eric Nielson
