Hi {{first_name}}

They say writing down your dream brings you one step closer to making it a reality.

But what if the next step isn't creating another plan, but is a series of simple, encouraging conversations that set things in motion?

I've always had a knack for recording things. 

Not necessarily with fancy equipment; sometimes it's simply the recorder app on my phone.

Last year, during a year-long online personal-finance programme led by Juliet Odhiambo, I recorded some of our conversations for my own reference. Months later, I found myself listening back to one of those recordings after we were asked to share our dream destinations. 

At the time, I said I wanted to go to Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.

Gamescom is the world's largest video games event, that brings together people working across the global video games industry.

At the time, I believed I would probably need about three years to save for the trip.

I didn't know then that I would get there much sooner.

A few months later, I was listening to that same recording after receiving an email confirming that my pitch had been successful and that support had been secured for my Gamescom trip through GIZ Kenya.

I later learned that the mobility grant came through the Africa–Europe Partnerships for Culture: Audio-visual programme funded by the European Union, with co-funding from GIZ and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and jointly implemented by GIZ and Expertise France.

For now, I want you to hear the moment when Gamescom was still just a dream, because it reminded me of the power of speaking about your dreams in a safe environment.

Listen in here.

Around the same period, I stumbled upon the idea of a 1,000 Rejections Challenge on TikTok.

The premise of this challenge was that instead of being afraid of rejection, you deliberately apply for as many opportunities as possible. The goal is to stop allowing the possibility of rejection to prevent you from asking or applying in the first place.

One of the first opportunities I applied for was the Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC) Gamescom ticket opportunity from Amir Satvat.

A few weeks later, I received the ticket.

Suddenly, Gamescom wasn't just a dream anymore.

But getting a ticket and actually getting to Germany were two very different things.

Earlier this year, I experienced a disappointment within the Kenyan video games industry that honestly hurt a lot.

I had hoped to contribute to a video game summit in Nairobi by volunteering to help cover it, but it didn't work out. Given how long I've been working as a journalist within the industry, I found myself wondering whether the work I had been doing was making a difference.

At the same time, I was trying to figure out how to make Gamescom happen without compromising the financial goals I had already committed to.

For a moment, I seriously considered using money I had been saving towards a long-term investment to fund the trip myself.

But after speaking to my financial coach, Juliet, I decided against it.

Her advice was, “If your money already has a purpose, let it do the job you gave it.”

Making a dream happen shouldn't require you to abandon the other dreams you are working towards.

Fortunately, I attended and documented some of the summit’s surrounding community events, and something interesting happened.

The disappointment started to lift.

Those events reminded me of one of the reasons I love the video games industry in the first place: the people.

I interviewed a couple of people whose messages to the community inspired me to keep going.

With renewed resolve, I reached out to my friend Oscar Michael, founder of Africacomicade, and asked for advice on raising funds for Gamescom. 

We put together a list of potential organisations to approach, thought strategically about outreach, and began connecting each other with relevant contacts.

One of those conversations became particularly important.

Nimat Asunogie, Africacomicade's Partnerships Manager, introduced me to the GIZ team.

I secured a meeting, prepared a proposal, and later booked a one-on-one session with Juliet to review it and strengthen the pitch.

When the meeting came, I gave it everything I had.

And thankfully, the support I needed came my way.

I’m especially grateful to Linda, Victor, Emmanuel, Mary, and Débora for lending me a listening ear as well as for the support, and encouragement throughout this journey. 

Your support made it possible for me to not only get to Gamescom, but to document the experience and bring some of these conversations and insights back to this community. Thank you. ❤️

This August, I finally made it to Cologne for Gamescom.

But what made the trip valuable wasn't simply being at Gamescom.

It was the conversations.

I interviewed 30+ African developers and ecosystem stakeholders, representing more than eight African countries, and also spoke to a couple of people from Europe and around the world.

And the more conversations I had, the clearer one thing became:

There is already a lot more happening between Africa and the rest of the world than we sometimes realise.

Here are three things Gamescom revealed that I think are worth paying attention to:

One of the strongest patterns from the interviews was the variety and fragmentation of the connections that already exist between Africa, Europe and the rest of the world.

I heard about, mobility support, international investment, knowledge exchange, service work, partnerships, and collaborations just to mention a few.

For example, Narratify Agency in France, Kunta Content in Kenya, MiTale in Finland and Leti Arts in Ghana collaborated to secure an Indie Arena booth at Gamescom. Which brings us to the second point.

One of my favourite insights came from David Olamide of Dimension 11 who said:

“You don't seal deals at Gamescom. You start conversations at Gamescom.”

That changed how I thought about the value of the event.

A conversation doesn't have to immediately become a contract to be valuable.

It can become an introduction, which becomes a relationship and eventually becomes an opportunity.

That's why documenting these moments matters.

We often only see the partnership once it has become public knowledge.

We don't always see the conversation that started it and the time it took to solidify the deal. Now let's look at a contradiction I discovered.

This was probably one of the most interesting contradictions I encountered.

Désiré Koussawo of SAGES Africa, from Togo but based in France, talked about working with clients across Europe, India, China, and Saudi Arabia.

But after four years, Désiré said SAGES had not yet had a client from Africa.

That tells us something important.

Being an African creative company operating internationally doesn't automatically mean that your strongest connections will be on the continent.

And being based in Africa doesn't automatically mean you'll know what is happening elsewhere in Africa.

That creates both a challenge and an opportunity.

There is room for more knowledge-sharing, introductions, collaboration between African markets, visibility for the work already happening, and more intentional bridges between African and international ecosystems.

My own journey to Gamescom leveraged introductions. It may have started with a dream, but it came to life thanks to a lot of conversations and the support of people who believed in me and the work I do.

When I got to Gamescom, I realised the bigger story was about what happens when people, organisations and ecosystems begin connecting with one another.

And that story is still unfolding.

Over the coming weeks, WAI Network and its collaborators will be sharing more from Gamescom, including articles, newsletters, short videos, observations and stories from the people we met.

One of those stories is that of Jeffrey Gichuki of Virdane Labs, a member of this newsletter community who used an opportunity shared here and also received a Gamescom ticket from Amir Satvat. 

We'll be sharing his story of finding a way to fund his journey to Germany as part of the Gamescom video series on my YouTube channel.

We're also preparing an interactive ecosystem report alongside Africacomicade and Narratify Agency, bringing together insights from the 2026 edition of Gamescom.

You can explore it here: Gamescom Report 2026

The event may be over.

But the conversations don't have to be.

{{first_name}} maybe one of those conversations will be the beginning of your next opportunity.

Speaking of opportunities, as usual, please check out the ones I have curated for you below.

Until next time,

Wendi