On the sidelines of an e-sports event held in Cairo Saturday, Head of Garena Middle East and North Africa Hans Saleh said that he is very excited to support the growing sector in Egypt, and looks forward to working alongside industry and government partners to continue the country’s digital transformation.
The event, called “Free Fire: The Battle of Egypt,” was put on by Garena and took place under the patronage Ministry of Youth and Sports in cooperation with the Egyptian Federation of Electronic Sports, featuring the participation of 50 players from Egypt.
The Free Fire app was the most downloaded mobile game globally in 2019, 2020 and 2021, according to data.ai (previously known as App Annie).
Garena is a part of Sea Limited (NYSE:SE), a global consumer internet company. In addition to Garena, Sea has other core businesses including its e-commerce arm, Shopee, and digital financial services arm, SeaMoney.
“We hope that with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the Egyptian Federation for Electronic Sports, we can further grow the e-sports ecosystem in Egypt,” Saleh said, adding that the sector offers plenty of opportunities for young people to realise and pursue their passion for gaming.
Speaking about Egypt’s growing digital transformation, Saleh told Ahram Online that this development is critical and necessary for all countries, stressing that Egypt’s Vision 2030 serves as strategic planning for the future of the country’s digitalisation.
“Both the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Egyptian Federation for Electronic Sports has launched several initiatives to support the development of digital transformation in Egypt. We look forward to working closely with them and other local partners to further develop the digital skills of Egyptian youth through elevating the e-sports ecosystem,” said Salej.
Saleh noted that he believes that the Egyptian market for electronic games has significant potential.
“From the e-sports industry angle, we see great enthusiasm and passion from the Free Fire players. For example, in our current Free Fire: The Battle of Egypt tournament, more than 16,000 players have participated.”
Saleh also touched upon his future plans for the Egyptian market. In this respect, Saleh said that Garena is looking forward to working with the Egyptian Federation for Electronic Sports and other industry bodies to grow the interest in e-sports, enabling players to pursue their passion and seek opportunities to potentially pursue a career in e-sports.
In Egypt, 92 percent of people aged 16-24 and 94 percent of people aged 25-34 reported engaging in mobile gaming, according to Statista Global Consumer Survey’s results published in 2021.
The survey’s data showed that 32 percent of respondents spend between one to five hours per week e-gaming, while 17 percent said they dedicate between six to ten hours weekly to gaming.
