Gaming Market Insights Series #3: Kenya — Africa’s Emerging Hotbed for Fintech and Gaming Industry
As we mentioned in the previous article, Kenya is a young country of more than 45 million people where people between the age of 15 and 39 account for 35.4 per cent of the total population. Currently, there are 37.8 million active mobile phone users in Kenya and on average, the number of Kenyans having access to the Internet has reached 74.2 per 100 inhabitants. Kenya is drawing tremendous attention from regional and international entities who are targeting the emerging markets in Africa, specifically in Fintech industry.
Remittance strikes as the top Fintech category
The graph showcases the breakdown of international remittance channels in Kenya between the years 2013 and 2016. As an overall trend, mobile financial services increased quite sharply to 29.8% in 2013 and 49.4% in 2016 respectively.
Breakdown of international remittance channels (unit: %)*
Source: The 2016 FinAccess household survey of Kenya
* Multiple response possible
** Mobile financial service (MFS) providers include Airtel Money, M-Pesa, MobiCash, Orange Money & Tangaza Pesa
Alternatively, international money transfer declined by 6.8% to 42.6% in 2016. The other international remittance channels did not experience significant volatility except for post office, bus and matatu channels (inter-province money transfer) which are no longer in use.
Perspective ground for Fintech development
Kenyan foreign workers are increasing and so is the remittance transferred back home. Total inbound remittance has topped at 1.6 billion in 2015, representing an 8.3% year-on-year increase (Migration and Development Brief 2016, World Bank). Most incumbents are using mobile platform to conduct payment, which ushers convenient ground for Fintech and other financial solutions to leap up in the future. Bitcoin, among other cryptocurrencies has stepped up as a prominent solution to the emerging Fintech industry of Kenya and empowers a number of sizzling startups in the country.
Payment infrastructure enables unprecedented business models
Thanks to the success of BitPesa and M-Pesa, a number of regional and international investors are now putting their eyes on Kenya. Specifically Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are still at a nascent yet promising start to tap in the huge young market of Kenya. With improved financial infrastructure, other industries such as gaming and entertainment will definitely be entitled to tremendous growth in the future.
We will continue to share insights on other gaming markets in the region so please stay tuned!
ABOUT REPORT PUBLISHER
The report is prepared by CARDANO Labo — the leading blockchain research and development startup focusing on blockchain-empowered financial and entertainment services. We are keen on bringing this technology to a broader audience where people will have better access and opportunities to enjoy their lives through unprecedented technical solutions.
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