Allan Mukhwana has been instrumental in ensuring that more than 1,400 households in high-risk malaria zones in rural Kenya receive insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
But he’s not an aid worker, nor a medic — he’s the boss of a gaming studio, Momentum Core, in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
His firm specializes in developing games with an educational twist.
Players of the game Mosquito Hood are tasked with killing increasingly pesky mosquitoes. When a player completes all levels of the game, the Kenyan government has agreed to donate one mosquito net to a family living in a malarial zone.
Malaria is the leading cause of mortality in Kenya and is particularly deadly among young children.
Mukhwana has also created games aimed at raising awareness about HIV, as well as educational games for children.
“We aim to make learning about these important topics fun and engaging to players,” he says.
Minuscule Market
Momentum Core is just one of several games developers aiming to raise the profile of African gaming.
The market is very much still in its infancy on the continent — video games don’t have much uptake among the population, especially on PCs and consoles.
Kenya’s video games market was worth $44 million (£28m) at the end of 2013; Nigeria’s was valued at $71 million, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Compare this to the size of the U.S. market in 2013 — $20.5 billion — and the African markets seem minuscule.
But over the coming years, all the African gaming markets are expected to see annual double-digit growth, and gaming enthusiasts like Mukhwana are ready for the market to take off.
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