Abidjan held the first and largest eSport event in Africa which welcomed 256 gamers gathered to compete over two days for cash prizes amounting to $15,274 Euros at the Palais de la Culture
According to event organisers, Street Fighter V, Naruto and FIFA attracted video game players from five African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, and Burkina Faso.
“This is the first time in Africa that gamers from African countries come together to compete on such a large scale. Beyond the show and the prizes, our objective was to establish a platform to emulate and also connect the industry players. Africa counts for only one per cent of a 100bn dollar industry so the opportunity is real. We want to make this event an annual meeting,” stated Sidick Bakayoko, the event organiser and managing director of Paradise Game.
The competition was streamed live on twitch, Facebook and RTI mobile, the national TV web app and around 30,000 people watched the event online.
There were thousands of visitors in attendance who enjoyed a full range of exhibitions ranging from virtual reality games to speeches welcoming game developers and scriptwriters as well a dedicated gaming kids zone for the little ones. Emmanuel Yao from Ubisoft Singapore provided the audience with a full overview of the myriad of job opportunities that the gaming industry can provide.
Allou Morell dominated the FIFA tournament, Fan Henok won at Naruto and Gilchrist Boka succeeded on Street Fighter V.
