By Zuko Komisa
A video game incubator has been established at Wits University’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct for the thriving African gaming development community.
The centre is named after the Setswana word for “new beginnings”, the Tshimologong Precinct is a collaborative working environment aiming to connect like-minded people so as to enhance digital innovation and entrepreneurship.
Tshimologong claimed in a statement that South Africa has the fastest-growing gaming sector in all of Africa and that the nation’s most cutting-edge gaming start-ups are concentrating on capturing a piece of the industry’s growth.
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Kaya Biz with Lesley Donna Williams, CEO of the Tshimologong Precinct spoke about this new and innovative project.
“The launch of the gaming incubation programme is the first key action from the research to growing SME studios in demonstrating the way forward from our partners Telkom, AFD, IFAS and Wits University. This emergent sector is expected to contribute to economic growth and add our unique voice to the global industry,” said Williams.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION HERE:
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Williams says the gaming industry is a multi-billion industry and South Africa has been very slow in entering the space.
“Just over a year ago Tshimologong commissioned research on the gaming industry in South Africa and we were joined by two local and international partners.
“What we discovered was that there is a lack of specialised skills, and there’s also a bigger ratio of gender equality, with 83% of the workforce being white, 83 % male and two-thirds of the is under the age of 35 years old.
“So there’s a lack of experience. Globally, there is a boom in the gaming industry, it is a multi-billion dollar industry, however, we have been slow in entering the industry.” says Williams
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