The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Associated and co-located with the wildly popular Insomnia Egypt Gaming Festival which launched in October 2018 with overwhelming success, the African Games and Digital Application Conference and Exhibition (AGDA) took place from the 31^stof October until the 2^nd of November at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre (EIEC) in New Cairo.

In partnership with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), AGDA was inaugurated by The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, H.E. Dr. Amr Talaat, under the theme: “The Future of Developing Digital Applications and Games in Africa”.

The spark that ignited the launch of AGDA was a national governmental initiative announced by Egyptian President, H.E. Abdel Fattah El Sisi, in which 10,000 young Egyptians are set to be trained to become gaming and app developers within three years and support the establishment of 100 companies specialised in the field across Egypt and Africa.

Taking place across three days, AGDA was the biggest B2B platform for budding developers, publishers, technology providers, telecom operators, payment providers, localisation experts, content creators, designers and policymakers from all over Africa to engage and discuss the future of the industry.

The first day of the event provided a comprehensive introduction of the industry as a whole and its bright future as well as discussing what ethnic and cultural factors a developer should bear in mind when creating a product that targets audiences in the continent. The day also included a number of sessions that discussed several marketing and business tips and tricks that every company in the field need to know.

H.E. Dr. Amr Talaat distributed the prizes to the winning teams of the Egyptian App Cup. The Egyptian App Cup was launched last September in cooperation with Huawei Technologies, the Center for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TIEC) and ITIDA to develop innovative solutions based on mobile devices and Android applications that support the transport, health and tourism sectors.

On the second and third days there were multiple panel talks and workshops which covered aspects like VR/AR, visual arts, design, programming, business and marketing and more. Alongside the conference, there was a lively three-day international exhibition which was free for visitors to attend where companies showcased their latest game and app development tools and services.

If you happen to be a developer or have an interest in the field, make sure you don’t miss next year’s edition of AGDA.