There is a significant chunk of 15 million Zimbabweans who resort to gambling since it is legal for land-based casinos to operate in the country. However, there are a growing percentage of users who are skewing towards accessing these gambling destinations from a mobile platform. As a result of switching to online platforms, many users are able to avoid the negative reputation and social stigma associated with going to a land-based gambling sport.
There have been huge investments in Africa that have aimed at increasing the technological strength of the continent. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows have been steadily growing at more than 10% in recent years. For example, the FDI inflows in 2018 stood at $46 billion, which translated into an 11% increase compared to the previous year. Most of these funds have been diverted to technology advancement and online gambling seems to be a direct beneficiary of the policy.
Most of the countries in Africa have 4G networks that have enabled gamblers to enjoy sites like the Casimba online casino without being restricted by their location. Even better is the rapid expansion of 5G network capabilities in the continent and Zimbabwe is not far in the list after the likes of Nigeria and South Africa. The improving network speed allows players to have a diverse range of gaming experience rather than just vanilla online titles.
A significant benefactor in the growth of Internet speeds coupled with improved processor speed would be the online casinos. More players have been able to make a shift from just a regular online slot game to experiencing proper live dealer setups directly on their mobile devices. This brings a whole range of opportunities for gamblers and gaming enthusiasts. Since a wider section of mobile users in Zimbabwe happen to be under 35 years of age, the interest in online gaming continues to go. The younger population in Zimbabwe has grown a lot in numbers since the 1980s and it is now at the highest level since records began.
The UK Gambling Commission, which is regarded as one of the top licensees for online casinos, showed that more users are starting to take near gambling experience to mobile platforms. The study, which was conducted in 2018, was able to come across 55% of gamers who were using smartphones and tablets for online gaming. This was a sizeable increase from the 44% mobile gamers in 2017. This is a substantial rise from the previous years and the trend is expected to continue. Even though these statistics are predominantly for UK gamblers, one can learn a lot from these numbers.
There are a couple of challenges for online gaming to flourish in Zimbabwe. This would largely come about because of the banking infrastructure being not so great. Still, it would not be long before Zimbabweans find an alternative through the likes of cryptocurrencies to funnel more growth in the industry. This would eliminate any roadblocks that online gaming faces in Zimbabwe and the industry looks set for a bright future.
