When you think of African heroes in comics, it's obvious that Black Panther claims hearts worldwide. However, these are stories created outside of Africa. Inside the continent, financial hardships and the skills gap hamper artists' creative capacity. In Maputo, local artists at a design company have launched the first graphic novel in the country placing the company in an exclusive group of creators that are capturing African stories in digital form. CGTN's Beryl Ooro has the story.

The art of storytelling is evolving with the use of technology. And for creatives at Anima in Maputo, technology is the new platform being explored to capture local issues for communication and social development.

JOAO ROXO CO-FOUNDER, ANIMA "When you walk around the surburbs and peri-urban of the city, you see the difference, you feel the clash between the formality of the city and informality that surrounds it, kind of, right, which has its beauty and flame."

That flame inspired the creation of a graphic novel set in the city featuring African heroes using the power of science to do good.

Based on speculating story-telling, the graphic novels present African heroes tackling African problems and empowering their people. But the vision had to come to life.

JOAO ROXO CO-FOUNDER, ANIMA "We were looking for an illustrator to be able to portray this world 'cause you know none of us are the best at drawing and Helio ended up joining the team."

HELIO PENE GRAPHIC ARTIST, ANIMA "I had no idea that they had a project of a comic book and when they told me about it and invited me on board, I thought to myself that they must be joking. Just because I was very skeptical about doing comic book in Mozambique. For me it was not possible because we do not have a lot of resources of pop culture followers."

As trailblazers in this field in the country, Anima hopes this graphic novel will have an impact beyond the digital space to trigger public engagement.

JOAO ROXO CO-FOUNDER, ANIMA "It's a dream to place this universe in the real world and also make people identify themselves with it so that they can further engage with it."

And for the team, they hope the strides made will not only cast a light on creative in Mozambique but the region as a whole.

HELIO PENE GRAPHIC ARTIST, ANIMA "I hope to be a reference point as an illustrator who does comics and to inspire people who want to create comics one day even as it is not possible today but I always say that has to start it why not me."

Four episodes done and the future holds an endless list of possible stories to capture, maybe through the graphic novel the Informals, Africa will have more than the Black Panther to celebrate. BO, CGTN, MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE.