Students of institutions of higher learning have been urged to take advantage of e-sports to enhance problem-solving skills and strategic thinking.

Mt Kenya University founder and chairman Board of Trustees Prof Simon Gicharu pointed out electronic sports or gaming have several advantages over physical sports in that they are open to all regardless of physical abilities or background.

“The e-sports also open up career opportunities in game development, event management and broadcasting,” said Gicharu (pictured) during a launch of electronic sports (e-sports) at Mt Kigali University in Rwanda branch.

With the launch, the university becomes the first institution of higher learning in Rwanda to have such facilities. The launch came hot on the heels of the university being granted autonomy.

Mt Kigali University was previously a campus of Mount Kenya University but was granted full accreditation by the Rwandan government in April.

Everything gone digital

E-Sports are an electronic/digital version of popular sports and other variations of video gaming.
A state-of-the-art gaming laboratory featuring several consoles of Play Station 5 and Smart TVs was unveiled at Mt Kigali University.

“Long gone are the days when sports were confined to outdoors physical activities. Everything has now gone digital, including sports,” stated Gicharu.

The journey to establishment of e-sports at Mt Kigali University was pioneered by Kenyan-based Santiago E-Hub Gamers. Last month, two members of the E-Hub team- who are also students at Mt Kenya University- participated in the Gamers8 in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest gaming and e-Sports festival.