Get A Glimpse into Nigeria’s Gaming Industry in Today’s “Doing Life With…” Kunmi Adenipebi

Doing Life With… is a BellaNaija Features series that showcases how people live, work, travel, care for their families and… everything in between. We are documenting the lives of all people and ensuring everyone is well-represented at BN through storytelling.

Last week, we had a conversation with Dounard Bondo. Did you miss it? Read it here.

This week, we’re doing life with Kunmi Adenipebi, the COO of Gamr Africa, a gaming tech startup, and CEO of the Game Evolution Team. In this feature, he shares his journey into the gaming industry and the work done by Gamr Africa to boost the gaming ecosystem. Enjoy!

Hey Kunmi, how are you feeling today?

I feel good. It’s a great time to be alive.

Great time indeed. Give us a glimpse into your background

I’m from a Christian family of 9. I studied Sociology in school and started my first esports company in 2007 while I was still an interior decorator. I focused fully on esports in 2013. When I was 10, I watched a movie called The Wizard. It introduced me to the world of esports and then I dreamt of going into the world of gaming.

You’ve been in this ‘world of gaming’ for about 14 years, tell us about your journey up until co-founding Gamr Africa

My journey was pretty rough because, between 2007 and 2008, I failed my first couple of tournaments. Later, I hooked up with an animation company, Sporedust Media, and they believed in me. We had our first successful event in 2010 with 4,350 gamers. Although we didn’t make any money, the crowd was interesting. We kept on organising tournaments until we got discovered by the CEO of Connect Marketing, Tunji Adeyinka, who saw us on Facebook and allowed us to consult on his TechPlus 2015 eSPORT Project. There, he paid us our first earnings of 800,000 Naira. We ran the tournament successfully with thousands of gamers attending for 5 years until the head of TechPlus, Eniola Edun decided to bring up the idea of creating an esports company and invited me to join the team. This gave birth to Gamr Africa.

Interesting. Given the unique context of the gaming industry in Nigeria, what strategies did your company adopt to navigate and thrive in this relatively untapped market?

We had no strategy, really, just three minds that were good at what they did. I had the gaming community and industry experience, Eniola had the marketing and finance and Seyi had the technology beat. We learnt on the go and listened to the community to give them what they wanted.

So what significant strides has Gamr Africa made in the gaming ecosystem?

Gamr has exposed Africa to the world by introducing the first Pan-African championship where 13 countries were brought together. We have also exposed the corporate community to the business of gaming because there are now over 20 new gaming and esports companies evolving from the shadows. Gamers have started earning. Schools have started having gaming and esports curriculums via gamification in education. The whole ecosystem is alive due to the work behind Gamr.

You mentioned how the industry has evolved over the past years, what developments do you foresee in the coming years?

Within the next couple of years, I foresee the government picking interests to support, and it will further expand the international community of investors to troop into Nigeria for investments.

What’s a typical day in your life – from when you wake up to when you sleep? 

I wake up to tonnes of meetings and email responses. We have some gaming arcade outlets which I have to shuttle to see what the operations are like. We have remote staff members of over 28 people which we also have to manage. We are currently building the biggest esports stadium in Lagos, so it is up and down online and offline for me every day.

If you had to choose one video game soundtrack to be the theme of your life, which game’s music would it be? Why does it resonate with you on a personal level?

The Green Hill Zone Sonic 1 stage soundtrack keeps me alive because it was the first game I ever saw on 16-bit. It’s the reason I love adventure games.

Imagine you had the power to bring your favourite game character to life, who would that be?

Nathan Drake.

Let’s flip this. You have the opportunity to be a game character for a week, what would you be?

Nathan Drake.

Haha, Nathan Drake again?

Yes, because he reminds me of Indiana Jones, the greatest adventurer ever and also because I would love to tour the world, discovering the lost treasures and secrets; my dream.

Sounds interesting! One video game everyone must get to play in their lifetime?

Uncharted Series.

Who’s Kunmi in one sentence?

The godfather of Nigerian esports.

One unconventional thought you hold about life?

Life is free. So make the best of it while you can.

Thank you for being a part of Doing Life With, Kunmi

Thank you, BellaNaija, for having me.

 

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All photos from Kunmi’s Instagram

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Many thanks to Kunmi for having this conversation with us and answering our questions so swiftly. Do you love this content, have any feedback for us, want to be a BellaNaija Features contributor or want to be featured on Doing Life With…? We’d love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected]

Join us on Saturday for the next episode!