When I was offered the possibility to visit Cape Town for Africa Games Week 2024 by SpielFabrique, I was full of excitement. Last week, it finally happened, and it’s time to recap.

This was my first time in Cape Town and at Africa Games Week, and I was very curious about the local creative industry, the city, and its vibes, culture, and food. I heard a lot of good things, but the reality was even better. The picturesque views, friendly people, and great restaurants of Cape Town motivated me to experience more of Africa in the future. The interconnected creative ecosystem formed by strong initiatives, incubators, accelerators, schools, and studios sharing knowledge and ideas forms a perfect foundation for continuous growth.

At the beginning, I really want to thank the entire organizing team who prepared one of the warmest and friendliest gatherings I had a chance to attend. The speakers and panelists shared many valuable and inspiring insights. There are still many challenges to overcome, but despite (or maybe thanks to) them, African game studios are finding creative ways to succeed, and they are showing a lot of resilience.

During the SpielFabrique workshop, I had a chance to meet a very motivated, creative, and talented group of people working on amazing projects, which only confirmed my previous experiences. From small teams making innovative and sometimes really crazy stuff (in the very positive sense of the words) to established studios running smooth operations and working on big projects, they were all very passionate and open-minded, filling the workshop room with a lot of energy. I was glad to speak with them about not only mobile games but also dive deep into the projects they are currently working on and answer all questions about local mobile games subscription markets and the opportunities they bring.

The conference also included interesting B2B meetings and peer-to-peer conversations.

Looking at all the tensions in the world, one can get the feeling it is slowly tearing apart. Africa Games Week 2024 was building bridges instead—bridges between individuals, countries, and continents. I am very thankful for the chance to be a part of it.

What is the key takeaway from this event for me? While in traditional industries, knowledge, capital, and goods exchange usually had an east-west direction framed mainly by climate zones, the digital era does not benefit from staying in the same climate zone. Instead, it is beneficial to stay within the same time zone. This can be the beginning of a new north-south knowledge and capital exchange route supporting international collaboration on the same projects and may usher in a new era of African-European digital collaboration. It is definitely worth following this potential transformation.

I had an excellent time and great company at AGW, where many future collaborations, opportunities, and relationships were seeded. I look forward to growing them together.

(Author: Robert Schmiedl, TuuT’s managing director)