MTN Ghana Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Blewett, has called for stronger efforts to develop Africa’s gaming industry, saying the sector has the potential to create jobs, generate income and become an important part of the continent’s digital economy.
Speaking at the MTN DigiFest Gaming Conference, Blewett said Africa was still at the early stages of the gaming industry and had an opportunity to develop games that reflected the continent’s culture, experiences and markets.
Related Stories
Gaming is the big future for Africa. We are at the infancy of what’s going to be a massive part of our continent,” he said.
The conference brought together stakeholders from across the gaming ecosystem to discuss opportunities for developing talent, creating locally relevant games and expanding access to markets.
Blewett said MTN was interested in helping Ghana and Africa develop their own gaming ecosystem rather than relying solely on games produced elsewhere.
We want to own gaming, make it contextual to our environments, grow it with our people, and allow our people to develop, have jobs and have income out of gaming,” he said.
From entertainment to economic activity
Blewett said gaming should no longer be dismissed as simply an activity for young people.
He explained that changes in how younger generations learn and interact had increased the potential of gaming as a tool for education, entertainment and communication.
Gaming can be used for education. And it’s much more interactive,” he stated.
He said gamification could be used to make subjects such as environmental issues more engaging for young people, while multiplayer games could encourage communication and interaction.
He also pointed to the growth of e-sports, saying gaming had developed into an organised sporting and income-generating activity.
E-sports is a serious sport. So people earn money out of it. They have incomes out of it,” he noted.
5G investment to support gaming
Blewett said MTN’s investment in network infrastructure would also support the development of gaming in Ghana.
He said the company had invested more than US$200 million in its 5G licence and was continuing to invest in expanding its network.
Gamers will be very happy to know that this 5G is coming because gamers require mobile at a low latency,” he said.
He added that MTN was rolling out 500 additional network sites to improve connectivity.
Blewett said the company could also help local developers overcome one of the challenges facing the sector—the ability to reach customers.
They have great games. But where do you sell it? How do you get it? And that’s what MTN provides. We have 31 million customers. We can get your games to the people,” he said.
Gaming becomes key digital growth area
The MTN CEO said gaming was already recording significant growth within the company’s digital business.
Already gaming is our biggest growth area. Year on year, gaming is the biggest for MTN from a digital strategy,” he said.
He added that the company’s long-term strategy was to develop gaming into an important part of its digital offerings.
Blewett also highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in game development, saying AI could help developers produce games more efficiently.
AI can assist to get more games out. It can help you to develop games. So there’s still a very long runway,” he emphasized.
MTN partners academia to build skills
MTN Ghana Chief Digital Officer, Ibrahim Misto, said the company was seeking to build a stronger connection between industry, academia and the wider gaming ecosystem.
He said MTN wanted the conference to serve as a platform for developers, universities, investors, startups, policymakers and other stakeholders to establish partnerships.
MTN wanted not to be just a participant but actually a leader in driving this ecosystem,” Misto stressed.
He disclosed that MTN had announced partnerships with Leti Arts and Ashesi University.
According to him, the gaming academy partnership would focus on developing the skills of young talents and game developers, while MTN would provide a platform to help them reach customers.
We provide them the scale from access to market, while the academy provide them with the skills, so that we create opportunities for entrepreneurship, opportunities for businesses and for young talents,” he stated.
MTN’s partnership with Ashesi University would also support a gaming hub or laboratory that could develop gamification applications for sectors including agriculture and education. Additionally, MTN is also working to bridge the gap between education and employment through internship opportunities and initiatives such as its partnership with the University of Ghana on an AI hackathon.
Global market presents opportunity for African developers
Special guest speaker, Amelia-Avery Bradley, Senior Manager Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Zynga, sharing her thoughts said the global gaming industry provided significant opportunities for developers, particularly with the rapid expansion of mobile gaming.
She said there were about 3.6 billion gamers worldwide, with around three billion playing games on mobile devices.
There are three billion people playing on mobile devices right now and that’s a huge number,” she said.
Bradley added that, game development required a wide range of skills, extending beyond programmers to include animators, audio specialists, designers, researchers and testers.
She urged stakeholders to create clearer career pathways for young people and provide opportunities for them to gain practical experience.
She also called for greater investment in young talent, including paid fellowships and other programmes that would enable students to develop their skills while working in the industry.
When you are pursuing a passion but you are also pursuing a business, you want to be able to see equity and investment in those spaces as much as you’re investing your time,” she said.
Bradley also highlighted the role of gaming in building social connections, saying games could bring together families, friends and communities.
She encouraged stakeholders to maintain long-term partnerships and investment in gaming, arguing that sustained engagement would be necessary to build a strong ecosystem.
The conference formed part of MTN DigiFest and focused on strengthening Ghana’s gaming ecosystem by connecting talent, technology, academia, investment and market access.
