
Radar | Aug 07,2021
Dec 19 , 2021
By Kidist Yidnekachew ( Kidist Yidnekachew has degrees in psychology and journalism and communications. She can be reached at kidyyidnekachew@gmail.com. )
My husband, being a techie, works on various projects aimed at technology and youth, mostly for free. He wants to contribute to the next generation of Ethiopians becoming tech entrepreneurs and wants the country to become the technology hub of Africa. It may sound farfetched, as the country is still dragging far behind the likes of Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt, but the talent and the progress in the field over the past two years offer hope for a bright future.
One of his projects is centred around the relatively new but fast-growing esports industry, which boomed in user base during the height of the COVID-19 induced lockdowns. It is to the competitive gaming industry what the Olympics is to athletes. There are Ethiopian gamers, and African, that have skills no less impressive than that of the competition from Europe. Yet, we never see Ethiopia represented in esport events.
The initiative my husband and his friends from all over the world started was to train African competitive gamers on how to conduct themselves in tournaments to participate in international events and bring home the much-needed prize money that can often exceed half a million dollars. Two years later, feeling like they were breaking new ground, they hosted a professional league tournament.
Since most esport events are mostly online following the international standard, a registration form was set up and began registering participants. However, to the founders' frustration, almost 80pc of applicants decided to directly contact them with questions that were moot. This was not the first time my husband expressed his experience with this type of behaviour.
In an experiment, they guided several that would contact him through the registration giving them no more information than what the application already would have asked and they completed it. The issue was based on the notion that it is better to ask the person directly than read the instructions. Because of this hiccup, the registration that was supposed to last two weeks took four months, but that was just the beginning.
Esport tournaments like football tournaments have divisions and qualifiers. Once the event began on the third of December and some teams were eliminated and others were moved to the next divisions, they would need to move to other platforms. But the message stating what teams needed to proceed would be read by the individuals and not implemented. Instead, they would call and ask if they had to do what the instructions said now or if it was at a later stage. Teams from Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and Ghana also joined their tournament and did not seem to have any problems or need validation.
“If you were applying to college and didn’t understand the application or instructions, would you call up the dean of admissions and ask him to explain it to you?” was what my husband used and overused as an analogy when speaking to the contestants.
It is not just esport applications many young people have a hard time dealing with in the country. Take the growing business of university application services. People pay organisations to fill out applications for them to apply for colleges abroad.
Why would anyone do that?
These institutions will not do anything we cannot do ourselves as long as we are careful and consistent enough. It is not that some of these people paying for these services do not understand it. They want to be told one-on-one what to put and where to put it. It is sad and dangerous. One of the most important skills people need to apply is to know how to surf through documents, analyse, identify what works and does not, and communicate back clearly.
It is also a selfish act because they would instead get an answer immediately not to waste their time. Still, they do not mind the other party wasting their time and energy repeating the same thing several times to many people. At least, when it comes to college applications, they are paying for it.
PUBLISHED ON
Dec 19,2021 [ VOL
22 , NO
1129]
Radar | Aug 07,2021
Radar | Sep 10,2021
Radar | Jun 21,2021
Fortune News | Apr 16,2022
Covid-19 | Mar 06,2021
Featured | Oct 30,2021
Fortune News | Apr 10,2021
Radar | Dec 19,2021
Radar | Dec 19,2021
Fortune News | Jul 24,2021
Photo Gallery | 69006 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 60841 Views | Apr 26,2019
Fortune News | 52823 Views | Jul 18,2020
Fortune News | 52584 Views | Sep 01,2021
Dec 24 , 2022
Biniam Mikru heads the department of cabinet affairs under Mayor Adanech Abiebie. But...
Jul 2 , 2022 . By RUTH TAYE
On a rainy afternoon last week, a coffee processing facility in the capital's Akaki-Qality District was abuzz with activ...
Nov 27 , 2021
Against my will, I have witnessed the most terrible defeat of reason and the most sa...
Nov 13 , 2021
Plans and reality do not always gel. They rarely do in a fast-moving world. Every act...
May 27 , 2023
Tauted as a somnolent giant, Ethiopia's financial scene now stirs, roused by favourab...
May 20 , 2023
The pungent irony wafting from Pretoria last week was hard to miss. Cyril Ramaphosa,...
May 13 , 2023
In March this year, Kamala Harris, the United States Vice President, visited Ghana, T...
May 6 , 2023
The history of the Ethiopian labour movement dates back to the 1940s, marked by perio...
May 27 , 2023
In a triumph over the trials of the pandemic, a rising tide of construction costs and inflation, Zemen Bank has opened a stunning 32-storey...
May 27 , 2023 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
Meqelle is in an animated bid to reclaim control of the management of companies under the Endowment Fund...
May 27 , 2023 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
Officials at the Addis Abeba City Administration have recently changed the title transfer fees following...
May 27 , 2023 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
The absence of technological equipment to control the contraband trade near national borders and low-qual...