On May 28 and 29, 2021, the 1st cohort of AfricanGameDev, a training and support program for video game development in Africa initiated by Netinfo- Ecole d’Art et de Technologie and supported by Epic Games, will present its work. The initiative which has been a passion project of games industry academic icon, Samia Chelbi harbours grand ambitions.

The AfricanGameDev program which was accelerated by the onset of the coronavirus targeted more than 200 young students and professionals from 10 African countries. Aimed at supporting the academic development of young developers aged 18 to 30, the project was carried out 80% online and 20% face-to-face and ran from October 30th 2020 until April 2021. The 5-month support program was designed to teach applicants how to use Unreal Engine.

Over the course of two days attendees to the event will have the opportunity to discover the work, the experience of the country partners and the participants.
The event will be an opportunity to announce support and incubation programs for young Africans to turn their ideas into startups or digital implements.
The program will also incorporate a series of free workshops to introduce young audiences to video game production technologies using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.

Speaking on her ambitions for the event in an interview earlier in the year, Samia Chelbi said, “The success of the project is linked to the number of startups that will emerge from the program, after 2 years we hope to launch one startup per country that means 10 startups.”

Registration to attend the cohort demo day can be done here.