Going pro: Senegal’s young gamers betting on esport

People follow a video game fighting match projected on the big screen in a cinema in Dakar on Nov 12, 2022. The world of video games in Senegal now has its emblematic figures; young people in their early twenties, fed on PlayStations, who participate in competitions throughout the sub-region and contribute to the development and popularisation of this industry. — AFP

DAKAR: Avid fans of the best-selling Fifa video game watched on a big screen as leading Senegalese gamers battled it out as virtual iterations of footballing royalty like Cristiano Ronaldo and Olivier Giroud.

Some 400 esports enthusiasts attended Dakar’s recent Esport Experience tournament, inspired by local heroes like Mouhamed Thiam, 19, alias “Dex77” – three-time continental champion – and by Senegal’s real-life football team, the continent’s reigning champions.