Esports, while clearly growing its popularity across the globe, is an industry that without a doubt is gaining much traction in African nations today. Africa Esports Championship Dir Douglas Ogeto while speaking during the Esports Rising virtual event said that esports has certainly been growing over the years and has become a “major market” across West and East Africa such as countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco and South Africa and Egypt. Africa Esports Championship Co-Founder Emmanuel Oyelakin said in Nigeria, “teams are being formed every day” and fans are “hungry for events.” He believes that Ivory Coast should "not be left out," being that it is “leading when it come to esports in Africa.” Oyelakin also gave his marks for the industries opportunities for growth, noting that mobile gaming is the "biggest opportunity" to focus on for esports in African countries, describing how PC gaming is “prohibitive” in terms of cost but that “everybody has a mobile phone.”
Oyelakin: “Africa has the largest population of young people, and we'll have that for a long time. And these are guys that are very tech savvy, digital native like we call them. So these guys will be on their mobile devices, and that is where the biggest opportunity is.” Ogeto said of non-endemic sponsors entering the space, "We've seen energy drinks. Outside of Red Bull, we're also seeing other local energy drinks. ... And then also something as interesting as a logistics company, these teams need to move from point A to point B, because young teams in Africa do not have the setup, the gaming setup within their own homes, so means that they have to go to a central location." He indicated that, for esports, players are "passionate respective of their economic income." Ogeto: "What is unique is that eSports or video games is open to all, and I think the internet has made this a fair play for everyone irrespective of what they are."
