Innovate Africa, the product-led venture fund focused on early-stage African innovators, will host the Lagos edition of World Product Day 2025 on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at The Strong Tower Hall. The one-day gathering will bring together over 250 curated participants, culminating in a live pitch contest awarding a $2,000 grand prize to the winning team solving one of Africa’s “wicked problems.”
A Global Day, A Local Mission
World Product Day is a global celebration of product innovation curated by Mind the Product, with events in over 100 cities worldwide. The Lagos edition, spearheaded by Innovate Africa, aims to bridge grassroots challenges with scalable solutions by spotlighting bold African product builders.
Themed “Bold Builders Wanted,” the event is the final leg of a multi-month initiative launched in March 2025. It began with an open Ideathon that crowdsourced real-world challenges from across the continent. These were distilled into 12 high-priority problem areas spanning:
- Healthcare systems
- Climate resilience
- Digital public infrastructure
- Consumer protection
- Public service delivery
In April, these problems were handed over to multidisciplinary teams who advanced them to prototype stage through structured product sprints. On May 21, the top five teams will present their working prototypes before a live jury for a chance to win the grand prize and unlock post-event support, which may include incubation, mentorship, and funding opportunities.
What to Expect at World Product Day Lagos 2025
This year’s event combines a celebration of innovation with practical opportunities for learning and networking. Highlights include:
Live Hackathon Finale
Finalist teams will pitch their validated prototypes that emerged from two months of product development. The winning team will receive:
- $2,000 cash prize
- Tailored post-event support
- Access to resources to move from prototype to product-market fit
Product Career Fair
A talent matchmaking experience that connects mid-to-senior level product and engineering professionals with top African tech companies seeking to hire.
Product Workshops
Hands-on, expert-led sessions on:
- Customer discovery
- Product strategy
- Experimentation frameworks
Fireside Chats & Panels
In-depth conversations with African product leaders and executives from top tech companies like Moniepoint, offering insights into the continent’s evolving product ecosystem.
Notable Speakers
- 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
A Call to Action
Kristin H. Wilson, Managing Partner at Innovate Africa, emphasized the fund’s mission to address root problems before scaling. “Too many of Africa’s wicked problems are still meeting surface solutions—shiny tech, borrowed models from the US, and inflated funding—before the problem has even been clearly defined. We need builders who lead with empathy, context, and a bias for execution.”
According to Wilson, the Lagos conference is a direct response to this challenge: “It’s a day to move lived experience into tested prototypes and to line up capital, expertise and networks that can carry the strongest ideas to product-market fit.”
How to Participate
Product managers, engineers, founders, hiring managers, and ecosystem leaders are invited to register for World Product Day Lagos via https://lu.ma/jnjimijz.
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