Africa’s entertainment industry are growing as the continent’s countries become more digitised and its citizens get greater, more widespread access to the internet. While music, television, and film, especially the Nollywood film business, continue to be mainstays of most societies, it is the Internet gaming sector that is developing as the next big thing.
Africa is already being tipped as the next gaming hotspot by industry insiders, owing to the continent’s 1.26 billion people, the fact that the vast majority of its nations allow for online gambling (iGaming), and the growing popularity of mobile payments. The East African countries, such as Kenya, are the main emphasis, but Nigeria and another of the continent’s entertainment giants, South Africa, are already establishing themselves as dominant players on the international entertainment stage.
They are already leading figures in Africa’s burgeoning entertainment industry.
In Nigeria, iGaming has already established itself as a significant industry, mainly via its sports betting division. Since then, the sector has continued to expand, with total gaming sales reaching US$58 million in 2018, according to the most recent statistics available. It was anticipated that this number will continue to increase at a rate of about 16 percent through 2023. In Nigeria, the second-largest online gambling market in Africa, football is the driving force behind the industry, with bets on the English Premier League and La Liga in Spain among the most popular.
It seems that in South Africa, the continent’s biggest online gambling market, preferences are more evenly distributed throughout the industry’s two main divisions: betting and casino gaming. While sports betting is unquestionably popular in South Africa, the widespread use of the nation’s casino review and guide platform, which lists all of the most reputable online casinos in the country, has enabled the growth of online gaming. Because gamers place their confidence in the reviews, the sites are held responsible, resulting in more competition, improved goods, and improved user-friendliness, all of which benefit the industry as a whole.
Given the nation’s passion for sports, which ranges from football to the world’s greatest heavyweight boxing matches, it’s unlikely that Nigeria’s iGaming industry would ever be as focused on casino gambling as it is in South Africa. However, in order to expand it further and maintain Nigeria’s leadership position on the continent as other nations join the fold, it may be prudent to provide greater assistance to online casinos, possibly by properly integrating them with renowned sportsbooks.
The television viewing habits of Nigerians and South Africans are likewise quite different.
The African countries of Nigeria and South Africa have once again proven to be two of the most powerful players in the world of television entertainment. Even though Nigeria is considered to be the biggest user, South Africa is considered to be the most profitable, generating almost three times the income of Nigeria. Despite the fact that they are competing head-to-head at the top of the television ratings, their tastes are vastly different.
Big Brother Naija, as well as many other reality television programs, are huge in this country. But BBNaija is by far the most popular and watched program on Nigerian television, with the show bringing together individuals from a wide variety of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds to live in one home. The concept has proved successful in a number of other nations across the globe as well, and reality television is experiencing a worldwide boom at the moment.
While there are successful reality television programs in South Africa, soap operas remain the uncontested monarchs of South African television. A record-breaking big-hitter, Uzalo draws millions of viewers to nearly every episode, setting a new standard for television viewing. In addition to Uzalo, popular shows such as Skeem Saam, Muvhango, Scandal, and Generations continue to draw large crowds of viewers.
Nigeria and South Africa are both entertainment behemoths on the African continent, and both have established themselves as pioneers in the rapidly developing field of online gaming.