Lancement de FIGN : 300+ gameuses, un seul mouvement

The Day We Made History

On November 14, 2025, over 300 women and girls gathered at Renaissance Innovation Labs in Port Harcourt for the official launch of Females in Gaming Network (FIGN).

What started as an idea (that African women deserve a space in gaming) became a movement in one afternoon. By the time the doors opened, the room was full. By the time the first tournament started, it was electric. By the time we wrapped, FIGN had stopped being a concept and started being a community.

Why the Launch Mattered

For years, gaming culture in Africa has grown without making space for the women who were already showing up. Casual gamers playing on their phones between classes. Streamers building audiences without a network behind them. Coaches and competitors operating in the margins of community spaces that weren't quite built with them in mind.

The launch was our answer: a room where being a woman in gaming was the default, not the exception. No need to explain yourself. No need to justify your presence. No need to prove anything to anyone before you sat down to play. Just turn up, talk to people who get it, and find the squad you've been looking for.

Highlights from the Day

Keynotes & Panels

Women leaders in African gaming spoke about their paths into the industry: the mentors who helped them, the rooms they had to fight to enter, and what they wish they'd known starting out. The panels covered esports careers, streaming, game development, and the business side of gaming. The questions from the audience kept coming long after the scheduled time was up.

Tournaments

Live competition brought the energy. Players battled it out in Mortal Kombat and FIFA, with crowds gathered around screens cheering, heckling, and trading tips. For some attendees, this was their first time competing in a tournament setting. For others, it was the first time competing without being the only woman in the bracket.

Networking & Community Building

Between sessions, the real magic happened. People found their squads. Beginners met experienced players. Streamers exchanged handles. Coaches met aspiring competitors. The launch wasn't just a one-day event. It was the beginning of relationships that have continued in our WhatsApp community ever since.

What This Signals

Africa's gaming industry is moving fast. Mobile gaming is expanding across the continent. Esports investment is rising. The women who show up now are going to define what the next decade of African gaming looks like: as players, creators, executives, designers, organizers, and community leaders.

A launch like this signals to the broader industry that women in African gaming are not a niche. We are not a "diversity initiative." We are a serious, growing, organized part of where this industry is going.

What's Next

The launch was just the beginning. We're now:

• Building chapters across 7+ countries
• Planning our 2026 school tour to bring esports education to students who would otherwise never encounter it as a real career path
• Launching Pathways, our gated learning platform for approved members, with structured curriculum, mentorship, and access to partner organizations
• Expanding our partnerships with women-in-gaming organizations across Africa
• Continuing to host tournaments, workshops, and community events, bringing the community-first energy of the launch into everything we do

If you weren't able to make the launch, there are plenty of ways in. Our WhatsApp community is open. Our events page is filling up. And applications for Pathways are open at fign.org/pathways.

"Play is powerful. At FIGN, we harness it to create new futures."