Olivier Madiba, a Cameroonian video game developer, has recently reached new milestones with Kiro’o Games, the first video game studio in French-speaking Africa. Madiba has revealed that his online equity crowdfunding campaign for Kiro’o Games has raised a total of 1 billion FCFA in subscriptions through his campaign.
So far, investors’ commitment has been represented by a billion FCFA in subscriptions, according to Madiba, with the company collecting funds totaling 312 million FCFA from 431 different investors. Investors are likely to redeem the remaining 688 million FCFA pledges. According to Madiba, the fundraising demonstrates that Africans are open to internet crowdfunding initiatives and are willing to donate.
The Bank of Central African States has praised Kiro’o Games for their innovative approach. A report on crowdfunding in the CEMAC zone (which includes Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Chad) published in 2018 revealed that the startup had been successful in raising funds through crowdfunding to finance the largest project in the video game industry in French-speaking Africa, amounting to up to 129.87 million FCFA (198,000 euros). And this is despite the fact that there are no prior real estate promises, no shown experience, and no clearly defined customers.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
Kiro’o Games, the Cameroonian gaming company that produced the country’s first ever locally made video game, is changing the way crowdfunding is done in Africa. After raising more than $64,000 from 1310 investors in 2015 on the US-based crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter, the company decided to bring it home by building and running its own crowdfunding campaign in Cameroon. Rebuntu, the final product of that effort, has now assisted the company to raise more than $1,000,000, just $150 from over 900 investors, even though the funding campaign was started in April 2019. The company’s call for funds is, however, still running.
Olivier Madiba, the CEO of kiro’o Games
In a tweet, Olivier Madiba, the CEO of the company, shared his joy at the arrival of large investors who allowed the amount of subscriptions to exceed one million dollars.
“Kiroo reached 607 million FCFA in subscription this morning … There are big investors who have entered the table,” he said.
Apart from the expected promises of giving investors (each of whom invested at least $500) voting and some management rights, Kiro’o Games’ Rebuntu also offers them the right to resell their shares in the company 3 times the purchase price by 2026 (or 10 times by 2030) alongside receiving accumulated dividends of more than $1200 (on minimum investment sum of $500).
The funding model not only offers a strong insight into the alternatives to scarce venture capital in Africa, but also reveals the relative ease of fundraising available to Cameroonian startups.
Why It Was Easy For Kiro’o Games To Run Its Own Crowdfunding Campaign In Cameroon
Perhaps Kiro’o Games’ self-run crowdfunding in Cameroon could best be explained from the standpoint of law.
In most countries, it is mostly prohibited for private enterprises to raise funds from the public without authorisation by relevant government agencies. This explains why most companies raising funds from the general public are always public companies.
But, in Cameroon, there is no law or regulation on crowdfunding unlike what is obtainable in Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria and Tunisia. Currently, crowdfunding participants in the country only rely on the body language of the government which tends to support crowdfunding. In January, 2018, for instance, a cabinet council meeting chaired by Yang Philemon, issued a communiqué stating that “the Cameroonian government encourages other financing channels for SMEs, such as leasing or crowdfunding.” A national workshop organized in February 2020 also saw the Cameroonian government affirming its desire to promote crowdfunding.
In any case, the CEMAC Regulation of December 21, 2018 on payment services prohibits any person other than a credit, microfinance or approved payment institution from providing payment services within the CEMAC zone. The regulation also prohibits any person other than an approved investment service provider from dealing on the stock market as it relates with transactions in financial securities. CEMAC means Central African Economic and Monetary Community, a regional body set up to harmonize the regulation of the sectoral policies in member countries in the essential fields prescribed by the Treaty, namely, agriculture, fisheries, industry, trade, tourism, transport and telecommunications, energy and environment, research, teaching and vocational training. Cameroon is its member country.
Notwithstanding all these, it arguable that the particular part of the CEMAC regulation that touches on the public offering of shares only applies between countries and may not necessarily affect crowdfunding in each individual member country, including Cameroon.
“We cannot say that it (crowdfunding) is illegal because what is illegal must clearly be prohibited by law,” Boris Rodrigue Minlo Enguele, a Cameroon-based finance lawyer tells Afrikan Heroes. “That said, there is a sort of regulatory rigidity often noticed when considering texts governing finance in the CEMAC zone, especially as it concerns crowdfunding. The texts tend to state that crowdfunding activities in the CEMAC zone must either be done through public offering or through private placements, something which is regrettable because crowdfunding has its own processes and methods which are fundamentally different from public offering or private placements.”
“However, there is a regulation in gestation on crowdfunding in the CEMAC zone. We look forward to it,” he further says.
This non-legislation on crowdfunding perhaps explains why Cameroon has more than 4 local crowdfunding platforms. According to a recent report by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the activity of one of the major project financing platforms in Africa, KIVA, also shows that out of the 348,162 loans identified in September 2017, “Cameroon is the only country represented in the [central African] sub-region with 4,421 projects financed for a total of 1.1 billion FCFA, i.e., 0.74% of the total amount raised on the continent.”
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions. He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance. He is also an award-winning writer
Building on the success of “Aurion’s Heritage of Kori-Odan”, which in 2016 became the very first video game made in Cameroon, Cameroonian startup Kiro’o Games has announced it has raised $342k as part of a fundraising campaign it launched in 2019. Buoyed by the funding, the startup has announced the launch of its very first game on PlayStore.
“We have delivered ‘Early Access’ our game (…), which allows any player to experience the life of a high official of the Imaginary Republic of Mboa in a comic fashion. It is the first time in world history that the life of the African elite has been portrayed on video games by an African studio. Beyond satire (which is respectful), we offer young people the opportunity to experience the temptations and consequences of social problems such as corruption, modern management of couples, etc.,” said founder Olivier Madiba.
The crowdfunding campaign, initiated in 2019, saw Kiro’o Games raise around 190 million FCFA ($342k) to date from 258 shareholders, with a further pledge of 473 million FCFA ($852k) from 693 people.
“Since this fundraising, Kiro’o Games has notably delivered Aurion comics to Amazon, but nothing was yet available in the area of the smartphone market,” said the Cameroonian startup.
Investing Through Crowdfunding
This is not the first time Kiro’o Games is raising funds. The startup successfully raised $305,000 through equity crowdfunding between 2013 and 2018, and and in 2019 launched a $1 million crowdfunding target through its own crowdfunding platform called Rebuntu Equity Crowdfunding.
Kiro’o Games has previously secured funding in 2015 for the development of its first title, 2D African fantasy role-playing game “Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan.” It aimed for $44,600 but raised $55,500 from 1,310 backers through Kickstarter.
The Rebuntu Equity Crowdfunding platform allows investors to buy shares starting at around $500. In return, these investors receive voting rights and participation in the management of the startup. The company has not disclosed how much ownership it is giving up to investors.
Kiro’o Games raises crowdfunding Kiro’o Games raises crowdfunding
Kiro’o Games, sometimes known as Kiro’o Studios, is a Cameroonian privately held video game, animation, development and publishing company based founded in 2003 by Madiba Olivier, and headquartered in Yaoundé.
Entitled “The Mboa Manager”, this game, explains Olivier Madiba, the founder of Kiro’o Games, marks the entry of the Cameroonian video game studio into the smartphone game market in Africa. According to the startup, barely available on PlayStore, the first smartphone game made in Cameroon is already making people happy.
“In less than a week, ‘’ Mboa Manager ‘’ has been downloaded more than 3,300 times with overwhelmingly positive reviews on the quality that amazes,” the studio said in an official statement.
Kiro’o Games says it hopes to reach at least one million customers in Africa by 2025, with an annual turnover of $20 million, according to its business plan. The business plan was made public to boost interest in its crowdfunding effort.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions. He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance. He is also an award-winning writer
