Video games are a booming industry in Africa

desmond frimpong

December 2, 2017 8:03 PM

Gaming is a universal language

Over the last decade, game development studios have popped up in Tunisia, Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.

With the growth of tech hubs and funding opportunities, African developers are diversifying from traditional fintech products to creating innovations in healthcare, education, insurance—and games.

African game developers are also betting on the growth and use of smartphones and tablets.

This is especially critical as global mobile game revenues surpassed those generated from personal computers or consoles in 2016.

Telecom companies like Morocco’s Inwi, noting the growth of this sector, invested in developing a mobile game last year.

More women are also exploring opportunities in the gaming industry, participating in hackathons, and the development community is experimenting with video games to create social cohesion in countries like Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The International Game Developers Association, a non-profit organization for game software developers, now has seven chapters across Africa.

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desmond frimpong