Tweet

The Village: Gaming to Overcome Poverty in Africa

Written by: Erik Hersman

Article Overview: As you might have realized from past posts here, I enjoy computer gaming. I just recently came across a new game called “The Village” that is being created to simulate a third-world village. Your goal is to use your entrepreneurial spirit to raise this village out of poverty.

The Village: Gaming to Overcome Poverty in Africa

As you might have realized from past posts here, I enjoy computer gaming. I just recently came across a new game called “The Village” that is being created to simulate a third-world village. Your goal is to use your entrepreneurial spirit to raise this village out of poverty.

It’s a “multiplayer online real-time strategy game that immerses the player into the role of an entrepreneur building companies to bring prosperity to the villages of the third world.”

At first glance you might find this concept superfluous. After all, what practical use can gamers in the West have on the real problems in places like Africa? Let me try and explain why I think it could be useful…

It’s not just about playing a game - it’s about attention, ideas, and change through collaboration.

Attention
Getting the attention of people in the West in this time of overwhelming media blitzes is difficult. People are interested however, and creating one more avenue for people to find out about the situation in places like Africa is a good thing. Gaming opens up the world to a whole new demographic, and a game like the Village provides a non-overt educational component.

Ideas
Assuming the Village is an open enough game, there could be some very creative business, engineering and technological ideas that come out of it. If done right, the game could become a platform to test and prove out ideas before doing a pilot project or investing in a business in real life.

Collaboration
This is where the idea behind the Village truly comes into its best light. Collaboration player-to-player and between players and real world villagers is highly intriguing. The idea of drawing a line between those in the developed world and those in the developing world is very attractive. Think micro-level investment and idea sharing.

If the Village is developed to be fun, open and has the right type of interaction levels between users and people on the ground in the third world, it could be a very exciting project indeed. I particularly like the idea of it being a solution for education and for growing wealth through investment. In this case it’s not investment just by large organizations, but by ordinary people (just like Kiva).

If you are interested in helping, find out how you can here.

Related Articles
  IV. Module II: Linking Microfinance to Poverty Eradication
  SME's - why is franchising not more popular in Africa
  Sustained growth with equity is needed to halve poverty in Africa
  III. BACKGROUND - Microfinance in Africa
  18.0 Conclusion: Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa

Article Tags: collaboration, entrepreneurial spirit, real time strategy game, real world, the Village



Related Forum Posts
Adventure travel to Africa. - Africa is a place where adventure is taking place. If you are a travel who loves adventure, nature, culture you should visit Africa. Safari Village operator is a .leading tour operator in Kenya who are offering marvelous tour packages to Africa. Saffari Villages Online is a trusted name for africa travel.
Re: What or Who Sparks Your Business Interest - this might be surprise to you, but poverty spark my business interest. Poverty is prevalent in Africa. And I discovered early in life that people that own their businesses are richer than anypne else. I decided to get out of the poverty level and business provided a way of escape.
Re: need advice - Africa is a pretty big place I think it is a question of where in Africa you would like to open a call centre. South Africa for example actually has plenty of call centres already operating, so it would very much depend on what part of Africa you are considering. MichelleJ
Re: Newbie from Africa - Hello Biiyke Welcome to the forum. Which part of Africa are you from it is quite a big continent? I live in South Africa. MichelleJ
Re: Marketing to Wealthy Consumers - [quote="RussellWebb":1n1qzdoc]Any other tips on marketing to wealthy prospects?[/quote:1n1qzdoc] Well I think in order to gain wealthy customers' trust and show your credibility, you need to reach them on their own stomping grounds. For instance, in Toronto there's a shopping mall called Bayview Village and the majority of its stores cater to a high end market (and even the parking lot is loaded with luxury cars as well). Moreover, Bayview Village also holds art, jewelry and antique shows on occassion, so it might be worth your while to rent a space at your own local high end mall to reach that market. Furthermore, what if you offered a fancy/expensive restaurant one of your rugs for free or at a discounted price in exchange for some form of advertisement so that the restaurant patrons would take notice?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Ways to Improve Your Landing Page Conversions

Listen to Your Inner Melody

Build Corporate Credit for Your Small Business

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.