Europe currently stands as the largest iGaming market in the world, which is perhaps hardly a surprise given how popular online betting is throughout the continent, coupled with the availability of online gambling over the past decade.
Indeed, some would suggest that the region is an industry leader when it comes to this activity, with markets like North America rapidly expanding while still being subject to imposing restrictions in place in a variety of different countries.
However, there seems to be another continent that has started to potentially become a major player in the iGaming sphere in recent years, with Africa having shown a rather big interest in online betting and sports betting.
However, could the continent ever become as big as Europe? Let’s look at a few factors that could have an impact on the answer to that particular question:
How much are the two iGaming markets already worth?
According to data that can be found, Europe’s total gambling market revenue is thought to be worth around €87.2bn in gross gaming revenue in 2021, although this is a decrease given the circumstances that were experienced in 2020 and 2021. The continent’s online gambling market revenue was expected to reach €36.4bn (41.7% of total gambling) gross gaming revenue, though, which would be an increase of 19% compared to the number that was recorded in 2020.
Of course, there could be a variety of different factors at play when thinking about why the iGaming market had managed to achieve a high level of growth, although those who continue to play at a UK online casino will already know that it is down to the experiences that they are provided, as well as the convenience and accessibility that can be enjoyed when playing virtually.
Africa’s total iGaming market is said to be expected to be worth around the $2 billion point by 2024, thus highlighting that there is still some way to go in catching Europe, and the factors that will be mentioned below would perhaps suggest that it will be difficult to see it ever catch up with the leading market in the future.
Infrastructure is poor
Despite the fact that there are significantly more people living in Africa compared to Europe with (1.39 billion compared to 747.8 million), the major problem that will likely be encountered is the fact that the infrastructure in the larger continent will always be a big problem.
Of course, whilst it continues to improve in regard to internet connectivity and accessibility, it is a lot more widespread within Europe, thus providing a greater opportunity to enjoy casino games and online wagering compared to their African counterparts.
Disposable income
Africa is known as being a continent that continues to struggle financially in a variety of different ways, which is perhaps another reason why the iGaming market will never be able to become as big as the European market.
Citizens do not typically have as much disposable income that they can wager with compared to Europeans, which would then stagnate and slow the growth of the iGaming industry, thus limiting it in its attempts in becoming a huge market.
Conclusion
There is no denying that there is a lot of opportunity within Africa for the iGaming market to grow in the future, however it would seem rather clear that there are a few obstacles that could pose the industry some rather huge problems if they wanted the continent to become as huge as the European iGaming market in the future.
Expect a certain level of growth, but by the time Africa catches up, then it would be a surprise if Europe had not managed to experience its own growth in the same period.