Emerging markets & culture
Is it time for Africa? It is tempting to see Africa as an homogenous mass culturally and economically. But, as Caroline Kongwa , told the IMGL conference in London, it is a complex region where opportunities are as diverse as the Continent’s languages and regional dialects.
L atest data by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the African Economic Outlook 2022 shows that real gross domestic product (GDP) in Africa rebounded strongly in 2021, growing by 6.9%, after easing of COVID-19 restrictions in most countries, and associated growth in domestic consumption and investment. However, the AfDB also reflects that Africa’s real GDP growth is projected to decelerate to 4.1% in 2022, reflecting uncertainties related to the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic and other external factors. But, although faced with challenges, there are potential opportunities that are emerging for the African region, with the gaming industry at the centre of prospects for the growth and further recovery of the continent. There is, of course, no single African market and the continental average hides a broad range of local realities in its 55 countries. Economic growth in 2021 was highest in North Africa (11.7%) and East Africa (4.8%). In 2022, growth is expected to decelerate to 4.5% in North Africa
and to stabilize at 4.7% in East Africa. West African average growth in 2021 was 4.3% and is projected to remain strong at 4.1% in 2022. Growth in Central Africa is projected to rise to 4.6% in 2022, up from 3.4% in 2021. After a 6% contraction during COVID, Southern Africa’s estimated growth of 4.2% represented the largest recovery underpinned by strong recovery in Botswana (12.5%), Mauritius (4.0%), and South Africa (4.9%). This is projected to slow to 2.5% in 2022 as the effects of large fiscal stimuli peter out. The scale of potential that the Continent represents is seen in the current gambling regulations across the continent that see the majority of African countries permitting gambling, with about a fifth of these allowing online gambling. The Sahara is the great dividing line with countries in the north tending to have the most restrictive approach to gambling regulation and some countries continuing to outlaw gambling all together. This leaves great potential for future regulatory developments in the sector.
10 • IMGL Magazine • November 2022
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