JBKlutse
Friday June 7, 2019
by Kayson Papa Nketsiah Jr
Eleyer Daher attributes the rapid growth of Djibouti eSports to the country’s love for gaming.
The president of Djibouti eSports, Eleyer Daher, has indicated that the love and passion that Djiboutian youth have for gaming has contributed immensely to the growth of eSports in the country within the shortest possible time.
According to Eleher Daher, Djibouti eSports was formed less than a year ago to help bring gamers in the country together and help build a strong foundation for the eSports industry. Within the 10 months of their existence, Djibouti eSports have succeeded in organizing FIFA 19 tournaments as well as securing a slot to participate in the upcoming Africa eSports Championship in Kenya.
Daher believes that this was all possible because gamers in the country showed an unbelievable interest in developing eSports.
“We are very new in the industry. We actually started about 10 months ago,” he indicated. “We started with a FIFA tournament for fun but we realized that people in Djibouti loved gaming a lot and the majority of them even began to ask for more of such events.
“This is very important to us because it means we have the human resources to become an effective organization. Already there are many people who have come on board to assist is diverse ways, and it is all because they have the love and passion for gaming.
“As I speak to you now, we have created a database for all our gamers and it will surprise you to know that already we have about 500 gamers who have joined Djibouti eSports”.
Despite this impressive headway that has been made by Djibouti eSports, Daher believes that the country still needs support from corporate bodies to; help secure a permanent place to organize events, award tournament participants and also be able to participate in the Africa eSports championship.
“Our greatest challenge in the short period has been getting the needed support to finance our activities. For the moment our major revenue source is the registration fees we charge for our tournaments. It’s unfortunate to know that it is from that meager fees that we pay our participants and winners which is not very encouraging. We also do not have enough funds to secure a permanent place for the running of our activities.
“I strongly believe that if we get enough sponsors to help us, Djibouti can become one of the best eSports countries in Africa starting from the Championship. I say this because gamers in this country have so much potential and they could go a long way in blessing this country”.
Eleyer Daher spoke to JBKlutse’s Papa Kayson in an exclusive interview.