HOST: In the US, the e-sports industry is worth over 550 million dollars
Africa’s is only valued at 66 million dollars.
But it’s growing, and it’s growing fast… At six times the global rate.
BRIAN THE BEAST: So I wouldn’t say it is easy. No, it’s the hardest thing. But I believe that what I’m doing right now is what is going to shape this future. Five, 10, 20 years from now, I will see the fruits of what I’ve been doing for the last 10 or 15 years.
HOST: And by the end of this episode you’ll know why e-sports are going to shape the future
HOST: So what are esports? It’s organized, competitive video gaming — where players or teams compete in video games for prizes, rankings, or titles, often in front of live or online audiences. There are over 350 million gamers in Africa. The best view themselves as athletes.
DARK WILLOW: So an esports athlete, um I would say athlete because esports, the athletes, like these they put time just as athletes in the traditional world. They put in time to practice and the longer hours they practice, they get better at their skill. They have coaches who build for them strategies. Some esports teams also have like sports psychologists who help them in their mental way.
HOST: You’re hearing from one of Kenya’s up and coming esports athletes:
DARK WILLOW: So, I’m Dakwilo. Dakwilo is actually my gamertag and it was game it came from a game called Daughter because I play Daughter competitively. I like the game.
But my real name is Shirley Adema. I come from Kenya. So, yeah, that is basically ah me in a nutshell.
HOST: So what’s your origin story, Shirley?
DARK WILLOW: So um I got into gaming because I have brothers, a lot of brothers. So ah the brothers used to play game games a lot while I was young
So one of their friends went to a competition and he went and found there was a women’s category for competition.
So he went and saw girls playing and he was like I think she can beat these girls. Like she can make an impression.
And that’s how I just went in. And the first competition, i actually got some money and I got out to third place.
And it was motivation enough for me to continue coming to these events.
HOST: Brian, another gamer, has also been playing since he was young.
BRIAN: I grew up in Kibera and Kibera is one of the biggest slums in Africa now. And it’s one of the most dangerous places to grow. So when I say gaming actually saved my life, it ties to that. I grew in this environment where it was just drugs, criminals, gangs everywhere.
And then we were also poor. So most of the time we’d go without food, but it was weird that every time I would game, I would forget that I was hungry. I would forget that we had problems at home. You know, I was playing adventure games.
They took me away from real life and they helped me cope because I was in control in the gaming world.
HOST: He has grown up into one of Kenya’s most successful players.
BRIAN: So ah official names are Brian Diang’a, but everybody knows me as The Beast or Brian The Beast. And why is this? I’d say I’m one of the first esports athletes on this side of the continent on East Africa.
So I used to kick I was kick ass a lot. I mean, I used to play Mortal Kombat and I was competitive so much that people stopped calling me with my actual names. So every time I went to a tournament, they would just say, ah, this guy is a beast. This guy is a beast. Eventually they stopped calling me Brian and everybody just started calling me the beast.
HOST: The Beast also fell into e-sports by accident, while watching Youtube
BRIAN: So one day I’m just sitting there, I finished one of my classes and then I bumped on a video of a Mortal Kombat tournament.
And there was a kid called SonicFox who was kicking everyone’s ass and was like, I play Mortal Kombat almost like this guy, you know? And the prize pool was what actually got my attention. It was actually 1000 USD.
That’s actually what sparked my interest into getting into esports and I just started training, training, training
HOST: And how has it become a career, Brian?
BRIAN: So I became proper esports athlete going to tournaments. 2019, I became a gaming mentor, started coaching, teaching, because I realized the gap was big. People needed to learn. 2022, full-on tournament administrator. I do everything, from organizing, influencing in gaming, content creation. Game developers bring their games, I test them. So I’m a full-blown gamer. Yeah.
HOST: Gaming was born in the USA. The first known video game competition took place at Stanford University in 1972. Students played the game “Spacewar!” to win a year’s subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. Since then the industry has grown massively. It’s projected to hit $1.8 billion in the US by 2030. And African athletes are inspired!
BRIAN: Most of my gaming is inspired by the U.S. I follow all the U.S., players, esports athletes, the gaming scene, even the streamers that I used to watch the game, people like Rad, Brad, Markiplier, these are guys from the US.
This year, like two weeks ago, i met Sonic Fox after 10 years. Sonic Fox is one of the best fighting games players in the US.
This is who I wanted to be when I grew up. I met him. So I can say most of my gaming and everything I do in gaming is inspired by the US.
HOST: And what is it about the US?!
BRIAN: We consume, not just me, a lot of Africans consume a lot of content from America, not just music. Movies, gaming, series, everything is mostly inspired by the U.S. Again, by the fact that English is a language that we both speak. Number two, we have a lot of African-Americans. We compare ourselves to them. We are like, you know, it’s it’s like looking at your other cousin from the other side. It’s like, she’s doing this. I can do this. I want to follow that.
You guys have like but given us the blueprint of this is what we want to be when we grow up. So yeah, that’s that’s what I can say on that.
HOST: Shirley has also been inspired by what’s happening over in the US.
DARK WILLOW: I started a company for in Kenya. It’s called Tunza E-sports. And because I went outside, I travelled, and I saw the opportunities that, you know, gaming gives give people outside there,
Tunza means ah building, like growing something. So my aim is to grow and nurture esports . The template I’m using actually for the high school is from a person who ah does the esports. He’s American. He does esports in high schools.
HOST: The obstacles to growing the e-sports market are familiar – poor internet connection, lack of equipment, and few stable funding models – players often self-fund. But there is huge potential. Sometimes where you’d least expect it.
BRIAN: I can drive almost anything. just because I played it in video games i go to race motorcycles on track I’ve raced 600 cc to 1000 cc with no prior training just from playing moto gp I was able to learn and apply that to the track And I didn’t crash and I didn’t hurt anyone.
And I’ve done that since 2022 to date, just from gaming. So I look at the US and I’m like, hmm, the drone pilots, you need to be a gamer, your dexterity, whatnot applies to that.
So it even opens up opportunities for the youth. You know, the youth are the drone pilots. Again, We are playing fighting games all the time. We have combat experience without being on the ground.
Big companies spend on gaming not just to a award prize money but to find talent and skills I mean even surgeries right now there’s a process called letroscopy where you do surgery via vr and now if you are a gamer VR is home for you you can do anything in there so imagine if you’re a doctor and a gamer and there is even research to back it up
HOST: This isn’t just about entertainment — it’s about the future of skills. So who is leading the race?
BRIAN: Yeah, I would say the market exists, but it doesn’t have a shape. So this is a race of who shapes it first. Yeah. So the Middle East have seen the opportunity. They already know the figures and the numbers that the youth are going to be here.
A lot of them at some point, they need to be doing something. Most of them have grown up with tech. If they’re not techies, they will be in gaming one way or the other. So it’s about stat strategically placing yourself. Who comes first?
So I would say it’s because this industry is untapped. It has potential.
And it’s about who shapes it first. So it’s a race. Everybody wants is looking at Africa. They’re like, yeah, where do I get a slice of this? Yeah. Yeah. And that’s why I would say even for the, i would like I’ve been saying this for the longest time.
They are already here. It’s just doing. People are already there. The thirst is there. It’s just how to be part of it is what is still being worked on. But the numbers and the thirst is there to make it something worthwhile.
HOST: And why not go to the US as the industry is already developed over there?
BRIAN: If I go to the US, I’m just another regular citizen. i won’t be doing anything impactful but i will just join other gamers and i will enjoy life yes i will have a lot of opportunities but for me gaming is deeper to me than just ah making something for me gaming saved my life and i believe with gaming i can use to save a lot of other youth’s life who are going through the things i went through.
And I’ll be very honest. I grew up with in Kibra. I grew up with 60 friends. I think out of the 60, we are only left three of us. Three of us are only alive. Everybody else is dead. They went into crime, alcohol, diseases.
But like the the community ate them. They they are not there. Why? They were trying. They didn’t have a guide. Some of us, and the three of us are people who used to game. We were always at the gaming den.
If I’m going to live in the U.S. forever, well and good, but i that’s not my plan. My plan is to build Africa because I see potential in it.
HOST: Shirley is on a mission too – to get more girls into gaming.
DARK WILLOW: So ah the beautiful things are the fact that um you stand out and, ah you know, people like you people aspire to be you. Yeah, so most of the people just look up to you, the ladies. They want to be like you.
And when you’re a lady, there are more opportunities because it’s a male-dominated scene so uh you find that there if the tournament is for ladies there are a lot of opportunities going to the top is quite quite ah easier i would say you would go through hurdles a lot of competition to uh get to to the top so for the challenges um Like I said, it’s a male-dominated scene and we are in Africa. Come on.
Somebody will be telling you, you have to go and, you know, you have to be cooking. You have to be doing house chores. What are you doing here? So it’s not really a safe space when it comes to even, you know, men. Some men are usually sexist, especially in gaming.
And then even playing in the game… you know, you’ll hear most girls say, I don’t put my mic on. Because when you talk and they hear it’s a girl, most of the guys, like, will say, we are losing because you’re a girl.
HOST: Africa’s gaming industry is young — but it’s full of possibility.
And if Brian and Shirley have their way, the next e-sports superstar might just come from Nairobi.
BRIAN: let’s game let’s use gaming to you know save the world mean that’s my bible that’s what i use to preach I preach gaming so yeah that’s a bit about me and I believe that African youth have potential in the gaming space because it has not been tapped in yet and I want to be seated in the front row when we get to that dream when we realize that dream so whoever sees this I’m the African gaming ambassador they call me the beast or Mr take your lunch money and Building gaming and preaching gaming is what I do. It’s what I do.
