- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
- Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
- Farrell set for 'challenge' of downing Bordeaux in Top 14
- Springbok Etzebeth diverts attention from looming caps record
- Inter on a high ahead of Milan derby as Napoli face Juve test
- Bank of Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged
- Arnold quits after six years in charge of Australia
- Asian markets track Wall Street record to extend global rally
- Guirassy and Anton to return to Stuttgart with new side Dortmund
- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
- Dream debut for Wirtz as Leverkusen thump dire Feyenoord
- Myanmar flood death toll climbs to 293: state media
- Israel army says West Bank air strike kills 4 militants
- LIV golfers get green light for US Ryder Cup team, PGA Championship
- US accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'
- Ten Hag to bed Hojlund, Mount in carefully when they return for Man Utd
- Breaking bad as McIlroy endures 'weird' day
Video game developers cash in on Africa's booming mobile market
Two manga-like avatars lock swords against a comic strip backdrop, as Alexander Poone explains the different worlds of "The Traveller" -- a video game based on a graphic novel.
The 27-year-old from Johannesburg is showcasing his creation at the annual Africa Games Week taking place in Cape Town.
Organisers of the continent's largest gathering of game developers aim to help the gaming industry meet demand for African-made content and boost the potential of local talent.
Most of the games on the market are from America, Europe and Japan, but African content is negligible, said Poone.
There's "a lot of content that is new and not been fully explored yet," said Poone, founder of Dream Shards.
The hybrid event opened on Wednesday and will run through Friday, attracting some 2,500 developers, coders, designers, investors, and publishers, with 600 of them attending in-person.
Event co-founder Nick Hall said a lot of publishers say they want African-made content.
- 'One billion gamers' -
"There's a huge opportunity. Now is ...the best time really to be making games or trying to get into the games industry because we're hoping in the next few years we're going to see a massive spike in growth," he said.
Burdened with poverty and infrastructure problems such as reliable telecoms and electricity supply, Africa traditionally lagged far behind other continents in gaming.
But recent years have seen an extraordinary boom -- gamers in sub-Saharan Africa increased to 186 million in 2021 from 77 million in 2015, according to a study by game analytics company Newzoo.
Of those 186 million, 63 million pay for games as the continent embraces digital currencies.
Nine-five percent of the market is on mobiles, reflecting the continent's improved Internet access and affordable smartphones.
Previously, many Africans got their virtual fix on computers in internet cafés.
Africa, along with China and India, is expected to surpass a billion gamers, and the continent is home to industry's "last untapped consumer audience", Hall said.
He predicts that Africa could reach one billion users in the next five years.
To cash in on Africa's gaming boom, large developers need to work with local content creators, such as streamers or You Tubers, Hall said.
South Africa is by far the continent's largest gaming market with 40 percent of its population playing, followed by Ghana and Nigeria. And a lot more are upcoming.
- 'New El Dorado' -
In the Central African Republic, Teddy Kossoko founded Masseka Game Studio, which creates games telling stories of African cultures and history.
He is highly optimistic despite lacking resources to train youngsters to become professional gamers.
"For me, the future of this industry, and not only this industry, is in Africa -- it's the new El Dorado," he said.
"Centuries ago there was a gold rush in America. Today, I believe this gold rush is happening here on the African continent, and we (Africans) have to be first".
Others developers are making games not just for fun, but for social causes.
Jay Shapiro of Usiku Games, a Kenya-based social impact gaming company, created Seedballs, which helps replenish Kenya's lost forests in the semi-arid north of the country.
Kenya this year hopes by end of this year to have increased its forest cover from seven percent to 10 percent.
Shapiro says the game is helping achieve that goal.
"We created a mobile game for them when you fly a plane, and instead of the usual dropping bombs and trying to destroy things, you're dropping seeds and trying to plant trees," he said.
At the end of the game, players are congratulated on the numbers of virtual trees they have planted, and are asked if they would like to turn those into real trees.
They are urged a donation of one Kenyan shilling (just 0.008 of a dollar) per virtually planted tree.
"It's the only example we've seen of actually using gaming to plant real trees," Shapiro said.
Y.Bouchard--BTB