Pan African Gaming Group Launches at Africa Games Week in Cape Town
24 February 2022
Ten African game development studios have launched a new initiative to grow the continent’s gaming industry.
Making the announcement at the opening of Africa Games Week in Cape Town, Jay Shapiro, chairman of the Pan Africa Gaming Group (PAGG), said the new initiative would unify the continent’s gaming sector and drive the uptake of gaming in Africa.
“PAGG is a combination of the top 10 game development studios from across 10 countries in Africa, and we’re bringing them all together under one roof to try and bring the African gaming industry to the global stage,” said Shapiro.
“The gaming industry in Africa is extremely exciting. Africa is growing massively. There’s only three markets globally that have the potential for a billion players – China, India and now Africa.
In Cape Town specifically, there’s amazing talent, and there’s a real focus on serious games and using the potential of gamification to create positive social impact, and that’s wonderful.
The gaming studios in the new lobby are South Africa’s Sea Monster, Senegal’s Kayfo Games, Cameroon’s Kiro’o Games, Ghana’s Leti Arts, Tunisia’s Digital Mania, Ethiopia’s Qene Games, Kenya’s Usiku Games, Tanzania’s Khanga Rue, DopeApps from Rwanda and Messeka Games, with more expected to join soon. Collectively, the current members have developed more than 50 games.
Africa Games Week is the largest gathering of African game developers and content creators in the world.
Across the world, gaming is big business and Africa Games Week gets to the heart of the business of gaming.
According to the co-founder, Rex Bowden: “The African Game Industry is about to explode, with over 11 million online gamers in South Africa. Our goal, since founding Africa Games Week in 2018, is to ensure that key industry leaders are working together as a community to drive this industry to massive heights.”
Supporting this event is both Wesgro and the City of Cape Town.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the City is a proud host city of the 2022 edition of Africa Games Week.
“Gaming is fast becoming one of the most important and innovative sectors in technology. It is an area that cuts across various industries, creating solutions in entertainment and education, and has the potential for investment and major job creation opportunities.”
For more information about the new African gaming initiative, visit the PAGG website.
