Institutional development · Industry collaboration · Ghana
Team with KNUST alumnus tops first DigiFest game contest co-run with MTN Ghana
Team Akofena, whose members include KNUST graduate Bismark Agyare, took first place in the debut DigiFest game developers' competition with a fighting game starring Ghanaian heroes and legends.
Why it matters: KNUST's computer engineering and computer science departments co-hosted the contest with MTN Ghana, giving students and independent game developers a showcase and industry feedback.
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) said Team Akofena, which counts its former mechanical engineering student Bismark Agyare as a member, came first in the debut edition of the DigiFest Game Developer Contest 2026.
Agyare built the winning entry with Caleb Mantey, Nicholas Abakah Eshun and Wilson Worlako Aziaka: a 2.5D fighting game played in a web browser, whose prototype offers three characters drawn from Ghanaian folklore and history, two stages, head-to-head play for two local players and a guided tutorial mode.
According to the university, MTN Ghana, KNUST's DIPPER Lab and its computer science and computer engineering departments jointly staged the competition, which was one of the events marking the telecoms company's 30th anniversary and was open to both individuals and teams.
Prof. Eric Tutu Tchao, who heads KNUST's Department of Computer Engineering, said links with industry could help ready students for employment and that universities should give engineers and developers the skills to find work or create it once they graduate.
Editor’s view
Joseph Lopez, Collaboration Editor
Students and independent developers who took part in the KNUST and MTN Ghana competition could present original games, hear from industry professionals and vie for prizes and chances to develop their work further.
