Physics whiz puts Africa on kids' map

You wouldn't expect a physics whiz-kid like Wandile Mabanga to spend his time making children's games, but the brainiac entrepreneur is on a mission to make learning fun.

Despite attending a poorly resourced township school in Kwa-Thema on Gauteng's East Rand, Mabanga got 100% for maths and 93% for physics in matric in 2007.

Excellent marks in his first year at university secured him a fellowship with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, which funded his master' s of science in theoretical physics at the University of the Witwatersrand - in a field so specialised that only two people in the world were qualified to supervise him.

"After graduating with my master's I thought of doing a PhD, but after spending time at home playing board games, I thought to myself that I should build a game - however, it should not be biased towards a certain culture or ethnic group," said Mabanga, 26.

The result is Map Blitz, a "fun and educational" puzzle that aims to educate people about Africa and its diversity.

"I invested a lot of time in the project. Map Blitz for now focuses on Africa. Each country is a piece of the puzzle. It seeks to share diversity and teach people more about Africa, especially children," he said.

The first batch was rolled out in two shops in Cape Town, where the puzzle hassold out. Mabanga is now planning to distribute the game around South Africa.

"Our target is the open market, families, individuals. But we aim to target schools, hence we will be in talks with the Department of Education. We want our kids to be exposed to African history and to know their continent at a young age," he said.

Lisa Simelane, the head of department of African studies at a Johannesburg school, African Leadership Academy, said the puzzle had been a hit among its pupils .

"In class, kids engage and talk about aspects of Africa such as country boundaries and ... we teach about colonialism," Simelane said.

Maurice Madiba, founder and CEO of Cloud Atlas Investing, a company that invests in countries across Africa, said Map Blitz had been a hit with his clients.

"We have been buying copies since July last year and I tell you it has been an experience. This is not just for kids; it has been fascinating even for us as adults."