On April 14, 2025, the Burkinabè platform for the verification of the Fasocheck denied a rumor widely shared on social networks, according to which the salaries of ministers and deputies were reduced by 30 %. This unfounded statement is just one example among hundreds of false information that circulates daily on the Internet in Africa.
Young Africans are increasingly confronted with an incessant flow of information, often not verified, which require increased capacity to analyze, assess and interpret content. Faced with this challenge, educational games emerge as powerful tools to strengthen media understanding and critical mind. In Africa, where almost 60 % of the population is under 25 and where access to smartphones explodes, the gamification of education offers a unique opportunity to transform learning into an engaging experience.
The emergence of ludopedagogy in French -speaking Africa
Africa is experiencing a revolution in the digital field. According to GSMA, around 615 million people will use mobile services by 2025, which represents almost 50 % of the population. In addition, the penetration rate of the mobile internet should reach 65 % at the same deadline, against only 37 % in 2023. This dynamic is accompanied by a major economic expansion: the African digital economy is estimated at $ 180 billion in 2025, or 5.2 % of the continental GDP, and could reach $ 712 billion by 2050.
This revolution creates a soil conducive to the integration of playful mechanisms in the teaching of complex skills in various fields. In Sudan, the " Can't Wait to Learn" of War Child Holland has demonstrated the efficiency of contextualized educational content, integrating local languages and cultural references, to improve children's learning. A study revealed that children participating in this digital game program improved their reading skills almost 2.7 times more than those according to the alternative government learning program.
In Côte d'Ivoire, financial education takes an innovative turn thanks to the initiative "The Money Kings - Gamify Your Financial Knowledge", launched by Paradise Game in partnership with Visa. This program uses football, a largely shared passion on the continent, as an educational metaphor to teach young people the basics of budget management, savings and financial decisions.
Challenges and levers for large -scale deployment
Despite the obvious potential, only 28 % of African schools have sufficient internet connectivity to support online educational games. Offline solutions such as the preloaded tablets used by Can't Wait to Learn show the way, but their cost remains prohibitive on a wide -scale.
The rise of light technologies (SMS games, low-consumption augmented reality) and emerging public-private partnerships-such as that between Paradise Game and Visa to reach 10 million young people by 2030-suggest viable solutions.
The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) stresses that 65 % of the continental education systems have not yet formalized evaluation framework for the skills acquired by the game. Countries such as Rwanda and Ghana are currently experimenting with hybrid courses where digital games complete (without replacing) conventional methods.
Teacher training remains a critical point. An experience in Senegal has shown that when educators are trained in fun pedagogy, the student's engagement rate in EMI activities increases by 70 %. Platforms such as the learning social network described by Géraldine Yanon in Côte d'Ivoire could serve as a model for sharing good practices between teachers.
Future perspectives: towards a serious game culture
The proclamation of 2024 as a year of education by the African Union opens an unprecedented political window to durably integrate educational games into teaching systems. This favorable context makes it possible to imagine a new educational culture, based on innovation and interactivity.
Among promising trends, artificial intelligence makes it possible to personalize learning according to the needs of each player, while blockchain opens the way to reliable digital certifications, recognized on the labor market. Educational metates, on the other hand, offer immersive land to simulate complex situations and strengthen the critical mind of young people.
To materialize these advances, a solid ecosystem is necessary, combining governments, African developers such as Kiro'o Games , and international partners. The success of the Abidjan electronics and video game festival ( FEJA) , which brings together creators from 15 African countries, shows that the continent already has human and creative resources to meet this challenge.
The gamification of media education in Africa is not a simple technological fad, but a strategic necessity. By transforming the learning of critical thinking into an interactive adventure, these tools redefine the relationship to knowledge of a native generation of digital. Tangible results - improvement of analytical skills, cognitive autonomy, increased commitment - make it an essential lever to build resilient companies in the face of disinformation. The challenge now is to go from promising pilot projects to inclusive generalization, ensuring that each young African, urban or rural, can "play thinking" to better understand the world.