There are two continents on which Nintendo has no eStore: Antarctica and Africa.
While still in Cincinnati, we brought a Switch as a gift for our nephews in Senegal. Well, I just knew that it would turn out to be a massive pain in the ass to set up out here, and it has been. I should have opened everything up (ruining their unboxing experience) and taken care of everything else while we were back in the States. The multi-day struggle against Nintendo region controls has been totally unnecessary, and completely non-technical in nature. Just business, eh?
So I’m getting another lesson in how underserved African gamers are. Even in a country like Senegal, which has been stable since its independence in 1960, where there’s a growing middle class and stable currency, yet no access to a a Nintendo eShop. It’s sad. Senegal, like thirteen other countries, uses the CFA franc, a currency pegged directly to the Euro and fully guaranteed by France; the CFA is about as stable as any currency can be. They have multiple banks, and an economic system that is very open to imports.
Yet Nintendo can’t run a few servers and provide an eStore. It’s fucking annoying.