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The Squid Map
The Squid Map
Studios & stories powering African animation, games & comics · updated
From Lagos to Cape Town, Accra to Cairo — this is Squid Mag’s interactive map of the animation studios, video game developers and comic publishers working across Africa, plus a second map of the comics, games and animated titles they’ve given the world. Tap a pin for the story behind each one, or scroll down for the full text directory.
The Full Directory
Every studio and title on The Squid Map, country by country — the plain-text version for easy reading, sharing and citing. Updated continuously by the Squid Mag team.
African animation, game & comic studios by country
Algeria
- Z-Link — Algiers · comics. Algerian publisher of DZ-manga and Laabstore, feeding the scene that gathers every year at FIBDA.
Cameroon
- Kiro’o Games — Yaoundé · games. Olivier Madiba’s studio and makers of Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan, the game that showed African RPGs could go toe to toe with anyone.
- Zebra Comics — Bamenda · comics. The Cameroonian publisher that landed a DC collab and put a Joker story in Yaoundé. Enough said.
Central African Republic
- Masseka Game Studio — Bangui · games. Teddy Kossoko’s studio carrying Central African stories into mobile gaming.
Côte d’Ivoire
- Afrika Toon — Abidjan · animation. The Ivorian studio behind Pokou, Princesse Ashanti, West Africa’s first 3D animated feature. Still pushing francophone animation forward.
DR Congo
- Studio Malembe Maa — Kinshasa · animation. Jean-Michel Kibushi’s studio, the godfather of Congolese animation. Hand-crafted films that have toured festivals worldwide.
Egypt
- Instinct Games — Cairo · games. Cairo’s co-dev workhorse, with credits on international titles and a deep bench of Egyptian engineering talent.
- TokTok Magazine — Cairo · comics. The independent comics collective that rebooted Egyptian comix culture one zine issue at a time.
Ethiopia
- Etan Comics — Addis Ababa · comics. Publisher of Jember and Hawi, the Amharic-and-English superhero comics that gave Ethiopia its own caped icons.
- Qene Games — Addis Ababa · games. Ethiopia’s standard-bearers in gaming. Kukulu and Gebeta took Ethiopian play global, with Apple features to show for it.
Ghana
- AnimaxFYB Studios — Accra · animation. Francis Y. Brown’s animation studio, putting Ghana on the festival circuit with sharp, stylish shorts and commercial work.
- Leti Arts — Accra · games, comics. Eyram Tawia’s pioneering studio, making games and the Africa’s Legends universe since before it was cool. Offices in Accra and Nairobi.
- Squid Mag — Accra · comics, animation, games. Home base. The Pan-African mag covering the creators on this very map.
Kenya
- Black Division Games — Nairobi · games. Andrew Kaggia’s studio, behind Nairobi X, the alien-invasion FPS set in the streets of the capital.
- Buni Media — Nairobi · animation. Creators of The XYZ Show, Kenya’s satirical puppet institution, plus a steady stream of animated work.
- Kukua — Nairobi · animation. The studio behind Super Sema, the STEM-powered superhero series that made global streamers pay attention to Nairobi.
- Ludique Works — Nairobi · games. Publisher and connector for African game devs, working to get games from the continent onto more screens.
- Usiku Games — Nairobi · games. Games-for-good studio turning out mobile titles with East African flavour and a social mission baked in.
- Weza Interactive — Nairobi · games. Makers of Mzito, the ancestral-spirits action game that became one of Kenya’s best-known exports.
Morocco
- Skefkef — Casablanca · comics. Casablanca’s irreverent comics zine, serving Moroccan street culture in darija.
Nigeria
- Anthill Studios — Lagos · animation. Niyi Akinmolayan’s production house. Best known for Nollywood blockbusters, with an animation arm that keeps raising its own bar.
- ChopUp — Abuja · games. Abuja-based mobile studio making games with unmistakably Nigerian humour and street smarts.
- Comic Republic — Lagos · comics. The Lagos powerhouse behind Guardian Prime and Ireti. One of the biggest comic catalogues on the continent, free to read from day one.
- Komotion Studios — Lagos · animation. A newer-generation Lagos animation studio chasing cinematic-quality African stories.
- Kugali Media — Lagos · comics, animation. The team that took Iwájú to Disney+. Started as a comics anthology, now a name international studios actually call back.
- Magic Carpet Studios — Lagos · animation. Ferdinand Adimefe’s animation studio, building original African IP and training the next wave of Lagos animators while they’re at it.
- Maliyo Games — Lagos · games. Hugo Obi’s mobile games studio, maker of Iwájú: Rising Chef with Disney and the engine room of the GameUp Africa bootcamp.
- Orange VFX — Lagos · animation. Richard Oboh’s VFX and animation shop, a quiet veteran of the Lagos pipeline that’s trained half the industry.
- Spoof Animation — Lagos · animation. Founded by Adebisi Adetayo, one of the longest-running names in Nigerian animation production and advocacy.
- Vortex Comics — Lagos · comics. Somto Ajuluchukwu’s outfit, publishing titles like Mumu Juju and Strike Guard rooted deep in Nigerian folklore.
- YouNeek Studios — Lagos · comics. Roye Okupe’s universe: Iyanu, Malika, E.X.O. Now partnered with Dark Horse, with Iyanu animated on Cartoon Network. Lagos roots, global reach.
Senegal
- Kayfo Games — Dakar · games. Dakar’s game dev flagbearers, best known for Cross Dakar City, a runner with a real social conscience.
- Pictoon — Dakar · animation. One of the continent’s animation pioneers. The Dakar studio behind Kabongo, proving African TV animation was viable decades ago.
South Africa
- 24 Bit Games — Johannesburg · games. Port and co-dev specialists trusted by international publishers, flying the SA flag in production credits everywhere.
- Celestial Games — Johannesburg · games. Veterans of the SA scene, keepers of the Toxic Bunny legacy.
- Chocolate Tribe — Johannesburg · animation. Nosipho Maketo-van den Bragt’s VFX and animation studio, delivering premium visual effects from Joburg to the world.
- Clockwork Acorn — Cape Town · games. Indie outfit behind Monkeys & Mountains and other thoughtful puzzle fare.
- Free Lives — Cape Town · games. Broforce. Terra Nil. Anger Foot. Cape Town’s most gleefully unpredictable game studio.
- Kwezi / Loyiso Mkize Art — Cape Town · comics. Loyiso Mkize’s studio and home of Kwezi, the township superhero who changed what SA comics look like.
- Mind’s Eye Creative — Johannesburg · animation. Joburg animation house producing series work and service projects for studios worldwide.
- Nyamakop — Johannesburg · games. The Joburg duo-turned-studio behind Semblance, the first African-developed game on a Nintendo console.
- Sea Monster Entertainment — Cape Town · games, animation. Cape Town studio working the line between games, animation and serious play for brands and broadcasters.
- Sun & Moon Studios — Johannesburg · animation. Full-service animation studio with two decades of children’s TV and commercial credits.
- Thoopid — Cape Town · games. Makers of Snailboy, one of South Africa’s earliest mobile hits with personality to spare.
- Triggerfish Animation Studios — Cape Town · animation. The continent’s animation heavyweight: Adventures in Zambezia, Khumba, Kiri and Lou, and Netflix’s Supa Team 4 with Malenga Mulendema.
Tunisia
- Digital Mania — Tunis · games. Tunisia’s most established game studio, shipping mobile and serious games for over a decade.
- Lab619 — Tunis · comics. The post-revolution Tunisian comics collective whose anthologies gave a generation of artists their first print pages.
Uganda
- Kola Studios — Kampala · games. The Kampala team that digitised Matatu, the card game half of Uganda grew up playing.
Zimbabwe
- Enigma Comix — Harare · comics. Bill Masuku’s imprint, home of Captain South Africa and Razor-Man, and a loud voice for Zimbabwean comics.
African comics, games & animated titles by country
Cameroon
- Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan by Kiro’o Games — Yaoundé · games. The Cameroonian action-RPG that kicked the door open for African game development on Steam.
Côte d’Ivoire
- Aya of Yop City by Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie — Abidjan · comics. The beloved graphic novel series set in 1970s Yopougon. A global bestseller and an animated film, all rooted in Abidjan life.
- Pokou, Princesse Ashanti by Afrika Toon — Abidjan · animation. West Africa’s first 3D animated feature, telling the legend of Queen Pokou from Abidjan to the world.
DR Congo
- Madame Livingstone by Barly Baruti & Christophe Cassiau-Haurie — Kinshasa · comics. The acclaimed WWI-era graphic novel from Congolese master Barly Baruti. Congolese bande dessinée at its finest.
Egypt
- Metro by Magdy El Shafee — Cairo · comics. The banned-then-celebrated graphic novel that dragged Egyptian comics into adult territory and paid the price for it.
Ethiopia
- Jember by Etan Comics — Addis Ababa · comics. Ethiopia’s first superhero comic, published in Amharic and English and crowdfunded by a diaspora that wanted its own hero.
- Kukulu by Qene Games — Addis Ababa · games. A rolling rooster escape through Ethiopian landscapes, polished enough to earn global app store features.
Gabon
- La Vie de Pahé by Pahé — Libreville · comics. Gabon’s funniest export: Pahé’s autobiographical comics, sharp enough to get adapted into the animated series Le Monde de Pahé.
Ghana
- Africa’s Legends by Leti Arts — Accra · games, comics. Pan-African heroes drawn from history and folklore, living across games and comics since the early days of Leti Arts.
- Moongirls by Nana Akosua Hanson & team — Accra · comics. Four superheroines defending a future Africa. Sharp, political, unapologetically feminist webcomics out of Accra.
Kenya
- Mzito by Weza Interactive — Nairobi · games. Cleanse corrupted ancient spirits across Africa in Kenya’s standout action title.
- Nairobi X by Black Division Games — Nairobi · games. Aliens invade Nairobi and a KDF hero fights back. Kenya’s first big 3D game moment.
- Shujaaz by Well Told Story — Nairobi · comics. The multi-platform comic that reaches millions of East African youth monthly. Arguably the most-read comic on the continent.
- Super Sema by Kukua — Nairobi · animation. Africa’s first kid superhero franchise to go truly global, powered by technovation and Nairobi imagination.
Nigeria
- Bino and Fino by Adamu Waziri / EVCL — Abuja · animation. The pioneering Nigerian edutainment series that taught a generation of kids about African culture, long before streamers caught on.
- Garbage Boy and Trash Can by Ridwan Moshood — Lagos · animation. From a self-taught Lagos animator to Cartoon Network Africa. A superhero comedy with the best origin story in the business: its creator’s.
- Guardian Prime by Comic Republic — Lagos · comics. Nigeria’s Superman answer, and the flagship of the Comic Republic universe.
- Iwájú by Kugali × Walt Disney Animation — Lagos · animation. The Disney+ series set in a futuristic Lagos, born from the Kugali crew. Proof that African sci-fi plays on the biggest stage there is.
- Iyanu by YouNeek Studios / Roye Okupe — Lagos · comics, animation. Teen heroine, Yoruba-inspired powers, a Dark Horse comics line and an animated series on Cartoon Network. The full franchise playbook.
- Malika: Warrior Queen by YouNeek Studios — Lagos · comics. Fifteenth-century West African military epic with a queen at the front. One of the books that built YouNeek’s reputation.
Senegal
- Cross Dakar City by Kayfo Games — Dakar · games. A runner about a kid crossing Dakar traffic, carrying a real message about talibé children. Senegal’s best-known game export.
- Kabongo the Griot by Pictoon — Dakar · animation. The classic Dakar-made series that proved African TV animation decades before the current wave.
South Africa
- Broforce by Free Lives — Cape Town · games. The gloriously chaotic action-platformer that became one of Africa’s biggest game exports ever.
- Khumba by Triggerfish — Cape Town · animation. The half-striped zebra that carried South African feature animation onto screens in over 100 countries.
- Kwezi by Loyiso Mkize — Cape Town · comics. A Joburg township teen discovers superpowers. The comic that redefined what South African heroes look and sound like.
- Semblance by Nyamakop — Johannesburg · games. The squishy puzzle-platformer that made history as the first African-developed game on a Nintendo console.
- Stasis by The Brotherhood — Cape Town · games. Isometric sci-fi horror, crafted by two brothers in South Africa and adored by adventure game diehards everywhere.
- Terra Nil by Free Lives — Cape Town · games. A reverse city-builder about healing the planet. Cape Town code, worldwide acclaim, Netflix Games deal.
Tunisia
- Willis from Tunis by Nadia Khiari — Tunis · comics. The cat who chronicled a revolution. Nadia Khiari’s satirical strips became the face of post-2011 Tunisian free speech.
Uganda
- Matatu by Kola Studios — Kampala · games. Uganda’s favourite card game, digitised. Millions of rounds played and counting.
Zambia
- Supa Team 4 by Malenga Mulendema × Triggerfish — Lusaka · animation. Four Lusaka schoolgirls turned undercover superheroes. Created by Zambia’s Malenga Mulendema and beamed worldwide by Netflix.
Zimbabwe
- Captain South Africa by Bill Masuku / Enigma Comix — Harare · comics. Bill Masuku’s hero asks what a national symbol owes her people. Made in Harare, debated everywhere.
