Teddy Kossoko: The Driving Force Behind Senegal's Thriving Gaming Industry

A significant investment of €300,000 has been announced for a new gaming hub in Senegal, marking the beginning of a promising partnership between Toulouse-based games studio Masseka, the French Embassy in Senegal, the General Delegation for Rapid Entrepreneurship in Senegal, and Dakar-based studio Kayfo Games. This funding will facilitate the creation of a hybrid structure, combining an incubator and a development studio in the Senegalese capital. The primary objective is to bolster the local gaming industry and position Senegal as a key player in West Africa's gaming landscape. Developers will be invited to participate in training sessions at the new hub, starting from September, with a focus on creating content inspired by Senegalese and West African cultures. The project is led by Teddy Kossoko, an engineer-turned-gaming entrepreneur who founded Masseka in 2018. Kossoko is also the mastermind behind Gara, a pioneering marketplace designed to distribute and monetize games across the African continent. With a background in science and management, Kossoko initially worked in the space industry before discovering his passion for storytelling through video games. He recognized the lack of African stories in the gaming world and decided to create his own games, eventually establishing the first video game company in France focused on African stories. The development of the Dakar gaming hub is an extension of Kossoko's endeavors to cater to African audiences and create sustainable ecosystems within the continent. The idea for the hub emerged during Kossoko's visit to Senegal, where he met with the French Embassy's representative, who had previously worked in South Africa and was familiar with the country's gaming ecosystem. The initial proposal was for an incubator, but Kossoko opted for a more comprehensive approach, combining a gaming studio and an incubator. This hybrid model will enable the launch of game jams, idea generation, and the selection of talented developers and artists, who will be offered contracts to train and produce games within the studio. The ultimate goal is to create a production studio that showcases Senegalese and West African cultures, with a distribution platform to monetize the content. The project aims to analyze the trajectory of the games and generate data on the ecosystem, which will be shared to facilitate the development of a thriving gaming industry in West Africa. Kossoko's vision is to create a self-sustaining hub, where the revenue generated from the games will support the studio's activities, and the employees will become independent of Masseka. The French Embassy has accepted Kossoko's terms and has increased the initial funding, providing a significant boost to the project. The current gaming industry in Senegal is divided into an unofficial and an official sector, with telecom companies dominating the unofficial market by distributing games from Europe and Asia. However, this ecosystem primarily benefits the telecom companies, neglecting the growth of a local game development scene. The hub aims to address this issue by providing a platform for developers to come together, access tools and training, and take a step towards professionalization. Kossoko highlights the obstacles that have hindered the development of a sustainable gaming ecosystem in Senegal, including the lack of stable electricity, suitable hardware, and distribution channels. The hub will provide fully equipped offices, courtesy of the DER, and a game jam organized by Kayfo Games' Julien Herbin, which will kick off the initiative and help discover new talents. A market study on Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria is also planned, which will be published in September. Kossoko concludes by discussing the future of gaming on the African continent, which he believes is accelerating rapidly. He emphasizes the need to build a robust ecosystem, invest in local studios, and create incubators to support the growth of the industry. With the big companies waiting for pioneers like Kossoko to pave the way, he is determined to drive the development of a thriving gaming ecosystem in Africa.