Innovate Africa, a product-led venture fund supporting early-stage African innovators, has announced it will host the Lagos edition of World Product Day 2025 on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. The event seeks to bring together a curated group of product leaders, engineers, founders and enterprise teams. The one-day conference will focus on product innovation and problem-solving across Africa.
World Product Day is a global initiative by Mind the Product, marked annually in more than 100 cities around the world. The Lagos edition, curated by Innovate Africa, will be Africa’s flagship celebration, culminating a two-month-long innovation sprint that has taken teams from idea to prototype, all focused on solving Africa’s toughest challenges.
This year’s theme, “Bold Builders Wanted,” reflects a call to action for innovators willing to dig deep into real-world problems and build with empathy and execution. The journey began in March with an open Ideathon that attracted hundreds of entries from across Africa. From this pool, Innovate Africa identified 12 “wicked problems” spanning sectors like healthcare, climate resilience, digital infrastructure, public services, and consumer protection.
Throughout April, select multidisciplinary teams worked in intensive product sprints, with guidance from product owners and experts, to develop prototype-ready solutions. The top five teams will now pitch their ideas live in Lagos for a $2,000 grand prize, plus access to a post-event support package that includes incubation, mentorship, and potential investment to help turn prototypes into scalable ventures.
The conference is expected to draw up to 250 carefully selected attendees, including mid- to senior-level professionals, founders, hiring managers, and ecosystem leaders. Among the headline speakers are:
- Mustapha Otaru, Chief Product Officer at Sterling Bank
- Andrew Obuoforibo, Head of Product at 54 Collective
- Isma’il Shomala, Chief Product Officer at Go Money
In addition to the innovation showcase, attendees can expect a full day of programming, including:
- Product Career Fair – A curated matchmaking experience between product and engineering talent and top African tech employers.
- Hands-On Product Workshops – Training sessions on customer discovery, product strategy, and rapid experimentation.
- Fireside Chats and Panel Discussions – Conversations with leading African product executives, including a spotlight on top firms like Moniepoint.
Kristin H. Wilson, Managing Partner at Innovate Africa Fund, shared the motivation behind the event:
“Too many of Africa’s wicked problems are still meeting surface solutions—shiny tech, borrowed models, and big funding rounds—before the problem is even clearly defined. If we’re serious about solving these challenges, we need to start by listening, define the problem, and then roll up our sleeves with builders who lead with empathy and a bias for execution. That’s what World Product Day Lagos is about—transforming lived experience into tested prototypes and surrounding those ideas with the support they need to scale.”
Launched in 2024, Innovate Africa Fund invests an average of $50,000 in early-stage ventures and supports founders through a robust framework that includes the Product Leadership Accelerator, InspireAfrica Gatherings, Silicon Valley Product Group Coaching, and Pan-African Product Tours. The fund places a strong emphasis on building meaningful technology rooted in African context.
Registration is now open for World Product Day Lagos 2025. Interested participants can sign up at: https://lu.ma/jnjimijz.
Also Read: Early-Stage Investment Fund, Innovate Africa, Launches with $2.5M Intial Rollout
