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Is Africa Becoming A Potential Crypto-gaming Grounds?

With the amount of time spent on phones by Africa’s youth, video games are increasingly becoming more appealing to them as a way to keep them active and engaged for extended periods of time.

While most games had foreign themes and creations back in the day, and those who wanted to play had to own consoles or personal computers or go to cybercafés and gaming joints, the portability of phones these days, with the introduction of smartphones and new primary platforms, has radically changed the story.

Since these mobile phones are easily accessible and have access to an active internet connection, more and more people have access to games that comes with more characters, assets, and even languages, adopting some African characteristics. With the number of gamers on the continent doubling over the past five years, the growth of the gaming industry in all aspects is taking an upward trajectory.

After a study commissioned by Newzoo, a games analytics company, it was shown that the number of gamers in Sub-Saharan Africa had risen to 186 million people from 77 million in 2015, about a 240% increase.

South Africa tops the continent with 24 million gamers (representing 40% of its population), followed by Ghana which has 27% of its population being gamers and Nigeria takes third place with 23% of the populace being gamers. Kenya and Ethiopia finish fourth and fifth in the continent with 22% and 13% of their population into gaming respectively. The covid-19 pandemic and increasing digitization across the continent are said to be the biggest drivers to the numbers as a majority of the playing population (95%) are mobile gamers.

“GAMING IN AFRICA IS EXPLODING. THIS APPLIES NOT ONLY TO PEOPLE PLAYING GAMES BUT ALSO THOSE WILLING TO PAY AS WELL” – Cordell Robbin-Cokar, CEO & Co-founder of Carry1st.

African game developers are fast adding new elements, with ownership being the latest addition, allowing gamers to own characters and assets within the games-leveraging on blockchain technology.

Usiku Games Africa, a Kenyan-based social impact gaming company is pioneering the new era of blockchain gaming in the country where the rising number of tech-savvy youth could soon start earning from the industry boom.

While gamers will still enjoy the thrill in gaming, they will not be able to directly cash-out earnings like in gambling under this new model. Instead, an enforced savings mechanism has been developed to redirect the earnings towards long-term saving instruments like pension schemes, health, and education insurance, helping to shore up the low savings culture among the youth in Africa and build up their financial resilience.

“We are looking at ways of having financial mechanisms built into the games where people can either earn or spend in a more transparent manner. The reality is that even if you have a job or an income, a little bit of savings maybe, all that may be washed away by say a pandemic, climate change, or injury in the family” says Jay Shapins, founder and chief executive officer of Usiku.

EFFECT OF GAMING ON THE DIGITAL CURRENCY TRADING IN AFRICA.

Already, about 63 million of the 186 million gamers (33.87%) pay for games with either cryptocurrency or online banking. This projected Africa to be the fastest-growing continent in digital currency in the world.

A study by Newswagg points to a growing appetite for trading in gaming assets using digital currencies with 38% of 41.9 million gamers owning crypto across the world being millennials aged 21-38 years old.

Africa and the Middle East have a combined 5.9 million gamers owning crypto. There is the possibility that these numbers in Africa will shore up given that the continent will have one of the largest youthful populations by 2050.

According to Newswagg, 80% of gamers with crypto accounts are interested in using digital currency for gaming purchases with 67% yearning for an opportunity to use cryptocurrency in gaming. “There’s an immense potential for crypto to be more involved in the gaming industry,” says the report. Global crypto gaming was valued at $321 million in 2020.

Nigeria has leaped ahead of its African peers in the adoption of cryptocurrencies following the launch of Africa’s first central bank-backed digital currency, the e-Naira in 2021. While Kenya is yet to launch its own regulated digital currency, it tops the world in peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trade.

South Africa is currently in the piloting stage of its project, Dunbar – which will support cross-border payments with Mauritius. 6 other African countries including Tunisia, Ghana, and Morocco are still conducting research on regulated digital currencies.

Read the BoG Statement on piloting eCedi in Ghana below;

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