Design Week Lagos to connect Africa’s creativity with commerce

Determined to connect African creativity with commerce, Design Week Lagos (DWL), Africa’s leading festival of design, innovation, and culture, is set to commence its 2025 event.

Since its debut in 2019, Design Week Lagos has hosted hundreds of designers, brands, and thinkers from across Africa and the diaspora. Its signature initiatives, including the Made by Design documentary on Netflix, The Made by Design Showcase, and the Design Innovation Exhibition, have reshaped global perceptions of African creativity.

According to the organisers, the programme scheduled to commence from October 23rd through to 28th will transform Lagos into a city-wide celebration of creativity under the theme “Made in Africa: Shaping Industries, Shaping Futures.”

Titi Ogufere, Founder, Design Week Lagos, disclosed that DWL, now in its seventh year, has evolved into a global platform that spotlights African design excellence and connects creativity with commerce.

Ogufere said the festival continues to position Lagos as Africa’s creative capital where design drives industry, tourism, and transformation. DWL has become a platform where innovation meets opportunity, spotlighting design as both a creative and economic force.

“Design Week Lagos exists to champion the ingenuity and ambition of Africa’s creative community. Each edition reaffirms our belief that design is a powerful language, one that tells our stories, shapes our economies, and connects Lagos to the global conversation on creativity and innovation,” Ogufere said.

She said that over six days, Lagos will pulse with exhibitions, installations, talks, and creative activations spread across its design districts, adding that from the Made by Design Show and Design Innovation Exhibition to student showcases, and partner programmes, the festival will engage professionals, students, and the general public.

She further said that the programme anchored by the Lagos State Government and supported by the Federal Ministry of Tourism, DWL 2025 underscores the growing momentum of design tourism in West Africa where creative excellence fuels new industries, education, and global visibility.

Tola Akerele, general manager/ CEO of Wole Soyinka Centre (formerly National Theatre), said that the programme gets better each year because it keeps showing Nigerian designers pushing boundaries in terms of the materials they are using.

She commended the organiser for sustaining the platform that showcases Nigerian architects, interior designers and product designers and their products.

On her part, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, commissioner for Tourism, art and culture, Lagos State, said that the Design Week event fits into everything that the government of Lagos State is doing to position the state as a global destination for the creative industry

“Design week is one of the things Nigeria should look at as a nation because it is the celebration of the hard work of young Nigerians doing great things,” she said.

Commenting further on the programme, Ogufere said that this year’s programme features over 100 activations, 20,000 visitors, and more than 250 million media impressions, spanning exhibitions, talks, installations, studio tours, and partner events across all 20 local government areas of Lagos State.

“More than 100 showrooms and partner activations across Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki, and Yaba, including Roots & Resilience (Federal Palace Hotel), Design Intersect 2025 (Soto Gallery), and the Launch of the Institute of Professional Interior Designers & Product Inventors (IPIDPI) at Alliance Française”.

Among the activities lined up for the week-long programme are Design Innovation Exhibition; Made by Design Show, Nigeria’s largest interiors trade exhibition returns with over 100 premium brands including Woodstyles, Esorae Homes, ACTIU, Mimz Interiors, and IO Furniture, reaffirming Lagos as the continent’s hub for interior innovation.

Others are DWL Talks & Dialogue in Design and Development, a two event of panels and keynotes bringing together architects, developers, manufacturers, and policymakers. Featured speakers include Bibi Seck, Victoria Adesanmi, Myles Igwebuike, Yew Kee Cheong (President, AIA), and Astrid Hébert (3C Awards).

Student Design Competition, which is organised in partnership with Caverton Marine. This year’s competition challenges young designers to rethink maritime mobility, with renowned designer Kurt Merki Jnr as lead judge.