Game console inspired former UN worker’s gaming business

Like many parents, Anne Githuku-Shongwe objected to her teenage son’s incessant playing of video games. She wanted him to spend his time more “constructively”. 

But on looking closer at his game, she discovered that he was not wasting time but studying the history of the Songai Empire.

“It was my Eureka moment. I thought that we could use games to engage the youth more intimately and change or prevent negative mindsets,” she says.

This turning point came in 2005 and eight years later, Ms Githuku-Shongwe has been named one of 15 top global social entrepreneurs for the gaming applications she has pioneered through her company, Afroes, by the Shwab Foundation during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

The tale of the inception of Afroes and its growth is not a straightforward one. Despite her “Eureka moment” in 2005, it would take three years for her to see herself away from her high-flying job with the United Nations to venture out on her own.

New challenges

She had worked for the UN in South Africa since 1993. At the time of her resignation in 2008, she says her work was “fun and challenging”. The UN was also a competitive employer in terms of salary, prestige, and lifestyle.

However, she was slowly coming to the realisation that her job was not meeting her needs. She had a desire to get things done fast. The UN was set in its ways and often worked closely with the government, whose activities are often slowed by bureaucracy.

“I kept feeling more and more pain the longer I stayed. It started becoming almost unbearable to stay there. It was nothing to do with the UN, it was more about what I needed to do,” she said.

When she finally decided to quit, she immersed herself in her new company, Afroes. Her choice of company name is an amalgamation of the words “African” and “Heroes” — an apt name for a firm that has sometimes pursued an idealistic strategy.

Her mother was in tears.

“She didn’t understand why I was leaving a comfortable life for something I barely understood,” she says.

Afroes’ first year in operation would be spent in research and little else. Ms Githuku-Shongwe delved into the growing universe of gamification. Gamification is a strategy that applies the essence of games such as fun, play, transparency, and design to real-world learning and development.

“I knew that I wanted to use games to further development and positive learning. But I had a background in development economics. There was a lot I needed to learn,” she says.
After exploring gamification in South Africa and travelling the industry’s conference circuit to New York, she had a clearer picture of what she needed to do to develop her firm, but she lacked one thing — a business plan.

In 2009, she engaged four fresh university graduates to help her develop a business plan.

“I had to get rid of all the ideas I had developed about working with bigger screens and game consoles,” she laughs. Afroes’ first big success was a soccer star game timed to coincide with the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Following the first game’s success, Afroes was engaged by UN Women to develop a game to campaign against gender-based violence. The game was named Moraba.

Localising Moraba

Following its release, the 2010 finalist in the Cartier Women’s Initiative competition received requests from the Guyana and Zimbabwe governments to develop local adaptations of Moraba. However, she wanted the geographical expansion of Afroes to steer her closer to her motherland. She started localising Moraba for the Kenyan audience as well as building other apps targeted at the country.

In 2011, Haki 1 was built. The game was “an homage to Prof Wangari Maathai” and taught the basics of environmental sustainability through a series of quizzes and challenges.

Two weeks before the elections this year, Afroes partnered with the Tuvuke Initiative to launch Haki 2, a game that was meant to promote peace and cohesion in Kenya.