I am not what you would call a pro gamer. My idea of a clutch play is remembering to charge my phone before a ranked match. But when I read about the Carry1st Africa Cup: MLBB Women's Invitational (MWI) Qualifier, I felt the same rush I get when my team actually rotates to the objective. This was not just another tournament. It was Africa's leading games publisher, Carry1st, rolling out an all-female Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event at Insomnia in Cairo, Egypt, and it doubled as the official Esports World Cup (EWC) MWI 2025 Africa Qualifier. The winners punched their ticket to the MLBB Women's Invitational at the Esports World Cup 2025 in Saudi Arabia. As someone who has spent way too many evenings blaming lag for my rank, I had to salute that.
Now, writing in 2026, looking back at that 2025 kickoff feels like watching the first domino fall. The Carry1st Africa Cup 2025 opened with this women's event, and it was the first in a series of esports competitions across the continent that year. Carry1st's inaugural Africa Cup in 2024 had already gathered top esports pros battling for a $15,000 prize pool. But the MWI Qualifier did something different: it gave female gamers a dedicated stage to compete and show their talent at the highest level. If you think that is not a big deal, try telling that to my ranked teammates who still ask me if I am lost. Exactly.
How the whole thing worked
The tournament unfolded in multiple stages, which is a polite way of saying it was a gauntlet designed to separate the casually confident from the genuinely terrifying.
| Stage | Format | What it meant |
|---|---|---|
| Online qualifier: Egypt | 32 teams, double-elimination bracket of playoffs and final rounds | Local pride on the line, plus a shot at Cairo |
| Online qualifier: rest of Africa | 32 teams, double-elimination bracket of playoffs and final rounds | A continent-wide talent hunt |
| Grand final at Insomnia, Cairo | Winners of the qualifiers faced off | Champions earned a spot at the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia |
Two online qualifiers, one for Egypt and another for the rest of Africa, each featured 32 teams. They competed in a double-elimination bracket of playoffs and final rounds. The winners of those qualifiers then went to a grand final at Cairo's Insomnia event. The champions secured a place at the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Saudi Arabia later that year. I read that and immediately felt both inspired and personally attacked by my own gaming schedule.
The people behind the push
Lucy Hoffman, Co-founder and COO at Carry1st, was especially excited for MLBB. She said it marked the first women's tournament for the Carry1st Cup and set the stage for an exciting year ahead, with even more to come. She also pointed out that the previous year's Cup was a huge success, and this year they were taking it to the next level. Africa has the talent, passion, and drive, she said, and Carry1st is committed to providing players with the platform they truly deserve. As a casual player, I can confirm that talent and passion are everywhere; the platform part is the hard bit.
Ray Ng, Head of Esports Ecosystem at MOONTON Games, added that MOONTON Games was delighted to join forces with Carry1st to extend its esports initiatives to Africa. He noted a thriving esports ecosystem across the continent and said they were particularly proud to help talented female players from Africa make their mark on the global stage. The partnership, he said, represents a commitment to nurturing diverse talent and creating inclusive competitive opportunities for all players, everywhere. I do not know about you, but that sounds better than another patch note telling me my main hero got nerfed.
Why this matters more than my rank
Despite Africa's growing gaming community, the continent remains underrepresented on the global esports stage. There is limited participation in major gaming tournaments because of infrastructural and logistical challenges. Carry1st is committed to changing that, one tournament at a time. And honestly, that is the kind of long-term thinking that esports needs. You cannot build a scene by waiting for perfect ping and unlimited sponsorship. You build it by giving players a bracket, a stage, and a reason to practice.
MLBB has grown into a popular game in the global esports scene. It was one of the most-watched titles at the Esports World Cup last year, with the MWI 2024 Grand Finals peaking at over 250k viewers. So when Africa's female players get a direct pathway to that stage, it is not a side quest. It is a main objective.
This was only the first instalment of the Carry1st Cup 2025, with more tournaments taking place throughout the year. Key timelines, announcements, and the full roadmap were part of the story as Carry1st continued to redefine Africa's presence on the global esports stage. Now, in 2026, I am looking at the wider scene and thinking: the next wave is already loading. If you are a female MLBB player in Africa, stop reading my nonsense and go grind. The stage is real. The qualifiers are real. The only fake thing is my excuse for missing that last shot.
I will be over here, practicing my rotations, pretending I am training for the Carry1st Cup. My cat remains unimpressed, but the continent? The continent is watching.