The mobile gaming market is perhaps the fastest growing market in the world and it’s starting to spread into newer and emerging markets – Nigeria has been cited as being an unofficial tech capital of Africa and so it stands to reason that an emerging market in mobile gaming would start here – mobile gaming as a whole is expected to surpass a value of $165 billion by 2023 which may even be accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, and for a market that is emerging in all areas of tech, Nigeria is perfectly poised to take a slice of that too.
This change can largely be attributed to changing costs and infrastructure – mobile devices are becoming relatively inexpensive for older models, although new flagship devices are releasing with increasing price tags these devices that are a few years old filter down and are widely available – similarly with internet, one restriction which is slowly being changed had been high data costs on mobile devices which are slowly lowering alongside data caps. To really experience the fast spread that mobile gaming has had in other parts of the world, more work needs to be done in this factor to increase infrastructure and reduce costs, but even despite this Nigeria is still experiencing an exceptionally strong growth in the market.
At the center of this trend is the growing trend of mobile casinos and betting services that are appearing all over the world – as sporting events become more easily accessible through different streaming platforms and as esports continue to grow, it’s likely this trend won’t slow as the audience is also changing to attract an older audience with a disposable income, this leads to this sector specifically developing more as the monetary factor attracts investors.
Although the sector is still growing too, there’s a chance that restrictions may be put in place to restrict growth – this has been seen in the UK with the introduction of a scheme called Gamstop which is aimed at reducing the ability for problem gamblers to participate on these sites, many operators have decided to register outside of the UK to avoid the mandatory nature of this initiative and now not all bookies are on the scheme providing a place for players to play safely with many of the same safety regulations, but without the initiative. Similar restrictions are being placed in other countries through measures such as limiting deposit amounts, for example, and with the emerging growth being so fast similar may be introduced within Nigeria.
The change here is happening very quickly, and it’s important to note that the sector as a whole is still relatively new – only really becoming prevalent in the past decade. Because of this, alongside the huge advancements Nigeria is making within tech in general, it’s very likely that the country could become the center of mobile gaming on the continent, and even begin to match what other countries are able to put in across the world as many continue to battle for growing usership.