SAGES Africa

Player Highlight: Bambina 🌟

Since competing in Kongo Esport Champions, Bambina has continued to grow Kenya’s esports community, both as a competitor and by creating opportunities for others. 🇰🇪🎮

“Since the event, I’ve continued competing in esports, particularly Tekken, while also getting more involved in tournament organization and community building. I’ve had the opportunity to compete in more events and grow as a player, but I’ve also been creating opportunities for other players.
One highlight was successfully hosting the Kayane Sessions, organized with SAGES Africa, this year at my gaming hub, Leijona Lifestyle Centre, which was a really special experience for the local gaming community. I’ve also been exploring chess as a new esport. I'm actively involved in a few international schools locally, teaching chess as my more formal work and gaming on the side. Overall, it’s been a journey of competing, learning, organizing and finding new ways to grow the gaming and esports ecosystem in Kenya.”

We’re proud to see Bambina continuing her journey while giving back to her community and helping strengthen Kenya’s esports ecosystem. 💙

Wishing you continued success, Bambina!

Player Highlight: Black Angel 🌟

Since competing in the Kongo Esport Champions, Nahomie DURAND, aka Black Angel, has continued competing nationally while working to create more opportunities for women and young people in gaming and esports.

“I have continued to compete in national competitions and created my association, The Hive, to promote women and children in video games. I am also responsible for the mobilisation of women’s esports within the Beninese Federation of Electronic Sports through the Kaleidoscope project, which brings women together to exchange ideas and perspectives on the future of women in gaming.”

We’re proud to see Black Angel continuing her competitive journey while helping build a more inclusive future for gaming in Benin. 🇧🇯🎮

Wishing you and your initiatives every success, Black Angel. We can’t wait to see what comes next! 💙

🌍🎮 That’s a wrap on gamescom 2026!

This year, gamescom once again brought the global gaming community together in Cologne, welcoming 368,000 visitors from 131 countries and 1,743 exhibitors from across the world.

From major industry showcases and exciting new releases to networking, conversations and connections across the international games ecosystem, gamescom continues to demonstrate the incredible scale and diversity of our industry.

SAGES Africa is proud to represent Africa and its growing gaming and esports ecosystem at international events like gamescom, building connections, sharing perspectives and ensuring that Africa remains part of the global conversation.

We leave Cologne inspired by the people we met, the ideas exchanged and the opportunities ahead. 🌍

Until next time, gamescom! 🇩🇪🎮

🎮 Day 1 at gamescom 2026 and we’re just getting started! 🇩🇪🔥

The doors are officially open in Cologne, and gamescom is already buzzing with energy.

From packed halls and incredible booths to new games, fresh ideas and connections from across the global gaming community, Day 1 gave us plenty to explore and even more to look forward to. 🌍🕹️

With 1,600+ exhibitors from 67 countries taking over gamescom 2026, there’s no shortage of innovation, creativity and excitement around every corner.

📸 Here’s a glimpse of our first day on the ground.

Day 1 ✅
More games. More connections. More to come. 🚀

Africa, the Growth Engine of the Global Games Market

406 million gamers. $1.98 billion in revenue. 81.8% mobile.
Africa is no longer simply gaming’s next frontier, it is already one of the industry’s strongest growth engines.

SAGES Africa is pleased to highlight the latest Carry1st × Newzoo Africa and Middle East games market forecast report.
Key figures for 2026:

🎮 406.25 million gamers in Africa, up 118% since 2021

📈 $1.98 billion in games revenue, growing 11.9% year-on-year, nearly twice the global rate

📱 $1.62 billion generated by mobile, representing 81.8% of the market

🌍 Africa accounts for 63.5% of MEA gamers, but only 23.2% of regional revenue

🏆 Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria generate 47.9% of Africa’s games revenue

The message is clear: the audience has reached scale. The next opportunity is to turn this massive, mobile-first player base into sustainable value through adapted pricing, local payment solutions, effective distribution and community-led activation.

SAGES supports publishers, brands, investors, telecom operators and industry stakeholders seeking to enter or scale across African markets. From market intelligence and country prioritisation to localisation, partner identification, community activation, operational delivery and performance measurement, we help transform African growth ambitions into executable strategies.

Discover the full Pocket Gamer article below and contact SAGES to discuss your African market strategy.
https://www.pocketgamer.biz/africa-and-middle-east-games-market-reaches-85bn-as-african-gamer-base-hits-406m/

🌍 EWC 2026: seven weeks of competition, 24 games and more than 2,000 players.

The Esports World Cup 2026 has come to an end in Paris after bringing together more than 200 clubs, 100 nationalities and $75M in prize money.

📊 EWC reported 850M viewers and 440M hours watched, while Esports Charts recorded a peak of 3.30M concurrent viewers across public livestreams.

📱 Mobile esports once again played a major role, with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, PUBG Mobile and Free Fire all ranking among the five most-watched competitions. A particularly important trend for Africa, where mobile remains the main gateway into gaming.

🏆 AG.AL won the Club Championship with 5,300 points, ahead of Team Falcons and Team Vitality.

SAGES Africa was present throughout the event to cover the competition, connect with industry stakeholders and bring an African perspective to EWC.

Together with Esports Africa News, we also followed Nigerian players Baji.jr and Adefola during the EA SPORTS FC 26 Last Chance Qualifier, while highlighting the work of GAME EVO, Cadeesport, Shola Kunmi and the stakeholders who helped make their journey possible.

🙏 A special thank you again to Red Bull France for welcoming the players and providing them with a place to train in Paris.

Our review identified 40 African competitors from five countries across the main tournaments. Participation remains limited, but performances such as 🇲🇦 dralii winning Rocket League with Karmine Corp and 🇲🇦 Nassada finishing 4th in EA SPORTS FC 26 show that African talent can already compete at the highest level.

This is only a starting point. 🌍

SAGES Africa will continue working to create more opportunities, strengthen competitive pathways and help more African players and teams reach the international stage.

🔜 A more detailed review of the African competitors and their results will follow.

🎮 SAGES Africa is heading to gamescom 2026!

From 26 to 28 August, our very own Désiré Koussawo will be in Cologne representing SAGES Africa at Gamescom 2026.

His attendance will be an opportunity to spotlight another essential part of Africa’s growing gaming ecosystem: game development, publishing, and the studios bringing new African creations to life.

During Gamescom, Désiré will explore the South African, Nigerian and Morocco pavilions, discover the studios and projects they are showcasing, and connect with publishers, investors and other key players from across the global gaming industry. 🌍

For SAGES Africa, Gamescom is another opportunity to build bridges between African talent and the global video game industry, opening the door to new connections, collaborations and opportunities.

📍 Cologne, Germany
📅 26–28 August 2026

Attending Gamescom? We’d love to connect!