Trust layer
Methodology
The platform's edge is not volume of data — it is turning fragmented African creative-industry data into comparable, verified, decision-ready intelligence. That only works if the method is fully transparent. Here it is.
What things mean
Definitions
- African studio
- A game/animation studio headquartered or primarily operating in an African country, sourced to its official web presence.
- African game
- A game whose primary developer is an African studio, or that is substantially developed in Africa.
- Verified
- A value traceable to an official API, government/international dataset, or an entity's own official site.
- Estimate
- A modelled value — always labelled ESTIMATE with methodology, source, date and confidence. Never shown as fact.
- ZERO ≠ UNKNOWN
- Missing data is stored as NULL and rendered N/A. Zero is only shown when a source reports zero.
- Coverage
- Share of a score's input metrics that have verified data. Low coverage lowers confidence, never silently zeroes a score.
How scores are built
Scoring engine
1. Normalise. Each raw metric is normalised to 0–100 across all 54 countries. Magnitude series (population, GDP, consumption) are log-transformed first so large countries don't automatically dominate every ranking.
2. Compose dimensions. Normalised metrics are averaged into eight dimensions (below).
3. Weight per mode. Dimensions are weighted differently for each question (invest vs build vs hire…). Weights renormalise over dimensions that actually have data.
4. Report coverage & confidence. Every score ships with its data coverage and a HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW confidence tier.
Audience
population, youth_pct, internet_pct, population_growth
Purchasing Power
gdp_per_capita, hh_consumption
Digital Access
internet_pct, mobile_per_100, broadband_per_100, electricity_pct
Talent
working_age_pct
Industry Maturity
studio_count, animation_count
Distribution Infrastructure
secure_servers, broadband_per_100, urban_pct
Investment Climate
gdp_growth, gdp
Esports Ecosystem
esports_org_count
Configurable
Mode weightings
| Dimension | Market Attractiveness | Distribution | Production | Hiring | Investment | Esports | Animation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | 20% | 30% | — | — | 20% | 25% | — |
| Purchasing Power | 15% | 25% | 15% | 15% | 20% | 15% | 15% |
| Digital Access | 15% | 25% | 15% | 20% | 15% | 25% | — |
| Talent | 15% | — | 35% | 50% | — | — | 35% |
| Industry Maturity | 10% | — | 20% | 15% | 15% | — | 20% |
| Distribution Infrastructure | 10% | 20% | 15% | — | — | — | 15% |
| Investment Climate | 10% | — | — | — | 30% | — | 15% |
| Esports Ecosystem | 5% | — | — | — | — | 35% | — |
What's actually available for free
Data availability matrix
| Metric | Source | Indicator | Free | Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population, total | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.TOTL | ✓ | Annual |
| Population growth (annual %) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.GROW | ✓ | Annual |
| Urban population (% of total) | World Bank WDI | SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Working-age population (15–64, % of total) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.1564.TO.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Youth population (0–14, % of total) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.0014.TO.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| GDP (current US$) | World Bank WDI | NY.GDP.MKTP.CD | ✓ | Annual |
| GDP per capita (current US$) | World Bank WDI | NY.GDP.PCAP.CD | ✓ | Annual |
| GDP growth (annual %) | World Bank WDI | NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG | ✓ | Annual |
| Household consumption (current US$) | World Bank WDI | NE.CON.PRVT.CD | ✓ | Annual |
| Individuals using the Internet (% of population) | World Bank WDI | IT.NET.USER.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) | World Bank WDI | IT.CEL.SETS.P2 | ✓ | Annual |
| Fixed broadband subscriptions (per 100 people) | World Bank WDI | IT.NET.BBND.P2 | ✓ | Annual |
| Access to electricity (% of population) | World Bank WDI | EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Secure Internet servers (per 1M people) | World Bank WDI | IT.NET.SECR.P6 | ✓ | Annual |
| ICT goods imports (% of total goods imports) | World Bank WDI | TM.VAL.ICTG.ZS.UN | ✓ | Annual |
| ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports) | World Bank WDI | TX.VAL.ICTG.ZS.UN | ✓ | Annual |
| Applied tariff rate, weighted mean, all products | World Bank WDI | TM.TAX.MRCH.WM.AR.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) | World Bank WDI | NE.IMP.GNFS.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Population aged 65+ (% of total) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.65UP.TO.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Female population (% of total) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.TOTL.FE.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Rural population (% of total) | World Bank WDI | SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Adult literacy rate (% of people 15+) | World Bank WDI | SE.ADT.LITR.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| School enrolment, secondary (% gross) | World Bank WDI | SE.SEC.ENRR | ✓ | Annual |
| School enrolment, tertiary (% gross) | World Bank WDI | SE.TER.ENRR | ✓ | Annual |
| Attainment: at least completed primary (% of 25+) | World Bank WDI | SE.PRM.CUAT.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Attainment: at least completed lower secondary (% of 25+) | World Bank WDI | SE.SEC.CUAT.LO.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Attainment: at least completed upper secondary (% of 25+) | World Bank WDI | SE.SEC.CUAT.UP.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Attainment: at least a Bachelor's degree (% of 25+) | World Bank WDI | SE.TER.CUAT.BA.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Youth literacy rate (% of people 15-24) | World Bank WDI | SE.ADT.1524.LT.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) | World Bank WDI | SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Population ages 15-19, male (% of male population) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.1519.MA.5Y | ✓ | Annual |
| Population ages 15-19, female (% of female population) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.1519.FE.5Y | ✓ | Annual |
| Population ages 20-24, male (% of male population) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.2024.MA.5Y | ✓ | Annual |
| Population ages 20-24, female (% of female population) | World Bank WDI | SP.POP.2024.FE.5Y | ✓ | Annual |
| Labour force participation rate (% of 15+) | World Bank WDI | SL.TLF.CACT.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Labour force participation, female (% of female 15+) | World Bank WDI | SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Unemployment (% of total labour force) | World Bank WDI | SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Youth unemployment (% of labour force 15–24) | World Bank WDI | SL.UEM.1524.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) | World Bank WDI | NY.GNP.PCAP.CD | ✓ | Annual |
| Gini index | World Bank WDI | SI.POV.GINI | ✓ | Annual |
| Employment to population ratio (% of population 15+) | World Bank WDI | SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Self-employed (% of total employment) | World Bank WDI | SL.EMP.SELF.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Youth not in employment, education or training (% of youth) | World Bank WDI | SL.UEM.NEET.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Urban population (total) | World Bank WDI | SP.URB.TOTL | ✓ | Annual |
| Urban population growth (annual %) | World Bank WDI | SP.URB.GROW | ✓ | Annual |
| Access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) | World Bank WDI | EG.ELC.ACCS.UR.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) | World Bank WDI | EG.ELC.ACCS.RU.ZS | ✓ | Annual |
| Gaming revenue / gamer counts | Newzoo (paid) | — | ✗ | — |
| Steam availability | Steam Web API (free) | — | ◑ | Phase 2 |
| Game metadata | IGDB / RAWG (free tier) | — | ◑ | Phase 2 |
| Esports tournaments | Liquipedia (community) | — | ◑ | Phase 3 |
| Research / talent output | OpenAlex (CC0) | — | ◑ | Phase 3 |