FIFA 2010 World Cup to benefit Africa gaming

Football is a popular game in Africa, although there is a shortage of trained football coaches.

"Most Africans love football video games such as the Football Manager and other FIFA series, mainly used by football club managers in most countries to offer training that would otherwise be missing," said Eyram Tawia, a game developer from Ghana.

Due to the level of international focus on football in Africa, more money is likely to be committed to hiring gaming software developers, but the continent is lacking competent gaming developers outside South Africa.

It would be easy for techies and major companies to engage in more business if there were established games development studios, said Wesley Kiriinya, a game developer from Kenya. This is one of the new frontiers that telecom companies should be using to attract new subscribers to their networks, Kiriinya said.

"I am part of a team creating a development studio that develops high quality mobile games but there is serious deficiency in skills," said Kiriinya. "The problem lies in software skills and the level of commitment."