Africa may not have as rich a gambling market as Asia, Europe, and the Americas, but at least one African country is beginning to make some waves, or at least enough to catch the attention of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In its second annual report on African gaming, PwC believes that Nigeria is on pace to have the biggest growth of the three biggest gambling markets in the continent, which also includes South Africa and Kenya. Of the three countries, PwC is most bullish about Nigeria, which it is predicting will someday account for a 16 percent increase in gross gambling revenues over the next five years.
PwC reached that estimate through its detailed “The Gambling Outlook 2013-17” report, which looked into how fast – or slow – African countries will grow over the next five years.
It must be noted that of the three countries, South Africa has by far the largest overall gambling market as well as the largest land-based casino gambling market, dwarfing Nigeria and Kenya in gross land-based casino gambling revenues with $1.7 billion earned in 2012, compared to only $31 million in Nigeria and $18 million in Kenya.
But even with having the most mature market, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to outgrow Nigeria and Kenya. In fact, PwC has tipped South Africa as the slowest growing of the three markets with just a 5% compound annual increase in gross gambling revenue by 2017 when its been tipped to hit $2.1 billion.
On the other hand, strong economic growth in Nigeria and the expansion of tourism opportunities have given way for a lot of people going to Nigeria and as such, its casino and lottery businesses are expected to get their own shots in the arm despite being the only two forms of gambling permitted in the country.
Then, there’s Kenya, which pretty much allows all forms of gambling, including online gambling, which in itself is just in its infancy. Like Nigeria, Kenya is also set to take full advantage of economic growth and a continued drive to promote the country’s tourism qualities. With all these upgrades in tow and some even in the pipeline, PwC is forecasting gross gambling revenue in the country to reach $33 million by 2017, a compound increase of 12.5 percent.
Taken all together, the three market regions are all expected to generate as much as $2.9 billion by 2017, representing a significant spike in interest from gamblers for all of the gambling options available in the three countries.
