What's the State of African Esports in 2021?

If you enjoy technology or video games, then you will almost certainly have seen the explosion of interest in esports right around the world over the last few years. Huge championships, leagues, and tournaments have emerged, with all the pomp and ceremony that you’d expect from any other professional sport.
 
The biggest markets for these new digital sports have been in South East Asia, North America and Europe, reflecting where the largest amount of the world’s wealth and largest video games markets are located.
 
That doesn’t mean Africa has gone without esports though. The continent has also been getting in on the action, with tech-savvy Africans keen to test their skills against fellow gamers from their own countries, neighboring nations, and the rest of the world.
 
So with nearly a third of 2021 already behind us, what’s the state of esports in Africa at present and what do its future prospects look like?

What Are Esports?
For the uninitiated, esports are a form of competition that use video games instead of real-world environments for athletes to face off against each other. The video games are typically retail versions that can be bought by anyone, but the players are much more talented than the average gamer.
 
Popular esport games include Call of Duty, Dota 2, Fortnite, League of Legends, and CS:GO.
 
Aside from this, esports are pretty much identical to other sports. Teams and athletes have fans, they sell tickets to events, broadcast games on TV and online, and receive huge sums of money from sponsors. Competitors are celebrities in the same way that footballers, cricketers, and tennis players are, though their fans may come from different demographics.
 
Big brands like Intel, Red Bull, Acer, and Activision have all got in on the act, investing heavily in sponsoring esports events and organizing their own tournaments. This has been the biggest driver of the industry in recent years.



A Fraction of the Size
The African esports scene has suffered from smaller investments and less interest from major brands than in larger markets like North America and Asia. This means that budgets for the biggest events in Africa can be fractions of the huge budgets that esports organizers have elsewhere in the world.

 
In 2020, the prize money on offer at FEJA, the African continent's biggest esports and video game event, was €20,000 ($23,900). Four years earlier, the Halo World Championship dished out more than 100 times that amount to players that took part.
 
Many of the biggest brands discussed earlier have been slower to sponsor African events, with local companies stepping in to fill the void instead.

Strong Growth Prospects
Being smaller has its advantages though. The African esports sector has a lot more opportunity for growth in the coming years than its international counterparts since it’s starting from a lower point. According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com, esports on the continent of Africa is forecast to grow at a compounded rate of 12% per year between 2020 and 2025.
 
Since most of the people interested in competitive video games are younger adults, Africa also poses a huge potential beyond the middle of the decade. By 2050, the number of Africans under the age of 24 will have grown by around a half, providing a huge boost to the gaming industry.
 
As more of Sub-Saharan Africa connects to the internet for the first time, more Africans will be able to benefit from the economic boom this can provide. As they do, they’ll likely follow in the footsteps of other nations, embracing video games as a new form of entertainment.
 
There is a long way to go in this regard though. By 2019, around 75% of the region had access to mobile internet, though only 26% actually used it.


Nigeria Leading the Way
Nigeria is one of the most tech-savvy African nations, thanks in part to investment initiatives by the Federal Government. The country’s Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has also pledged its support to esports as part of a new sporting strategy.
 
This has helped more Nigerians move into esports and develop their skills more than their neighbors. In 2020, the La Cup d’ Africana was won by Slime4KT, a Nigerian team that bested 900 others to come out on top.
 
While African teams are currently underrepresented on the world stage, initiatives like Nigeria’s, combined with demographic and technological developments on the continent, are likely to change that.

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