Design Capitals of the Future: Africa’s Rising Influence, at Design Week Lagos 2025.

For over two decades Decorex Africa has looked to the continent to understand design's temperature — connecting the continent’s creative capitals, curating collaborations, and shaping the conversations that define design in Africa today. 

Our recent visit to Design Week Lagos 2025 offered a vivid snapshot of this shared design landscape: one that is ambitious, globally attuned, and deeply rooted in African material culture. Under the theme “Made in Africa: Shaping Industries, Shaping Futures,” the festival celebrated how design continues to evolve as a driver of industry, education, and cultural identity across the continent.

The DWL Talks: Design Capitals of the Future

At the Livespot Entertarium, the DWL Talks programme set the intellectual tone of the week, exploring how design can power economies, influence policy, and define the future of African cities.

Among the standout moments was the session “Design Capitals of the Future: Africa’s Rising Influence,” featuring Decorex Africa’s Executive Creative Directors, Alan Hayward and Garreth van Niekerk, alongside Adebola Williams, and Myles Igwebuike, moderated by Nelly Wandji. Their discussion examined how cities such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, Accra, and Lagos are expanding design’s influence — from boutique studios to large-scale urban development — and how design fairs like Lagos Design Week and Decorex Africa play such a central role in connecting these ecosystems.

Other highlights included Titi Ogufere’s fireside conversation with Bibi Seck, “Global Perspectives in Product Design: African Design Futures,” and a compelling talk by Victoria Adesanmi on “Storytelling Through Design.” Together, the sessions reflected an optimism and purpose that align closely with Decorex’s own mission to elevate African design to a global stage. Audiences can soon revisit these discussions through the Decorex Africa Academy, a new online platform launching soon — a space dedicated to African design knowledge, leadership, and learning.

Nahous: The Design + Innovation Exhibition

Housed within the modernist shell of the Federal Palace Building, the Nahous Design + Innovation Exhibition, curated by Bibi Seck, was a powerful statement of renewal. More than a hundred works spanned the spectrum of African creativity — from Studio Lani’s intricate bead-and-metal lighting to Amina Agoro’s clay-based vessels inspired by Yoruba cosmology, and Kopano Mabaso’s ribbon-like timber benches exploring the limits of craftsmanship.

One of the most talked-about pieces of the show was Johnson Athenasius’s Apo Chair — a sculptural seat that blurred art and furniture, its knots and curves evoking both geometry and gesture. Designers such as Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Abduljaleel Sodangi, Ezekiel Osunala, the Ike Stools by Acacia Studios all showcased works in the reimagined modernist building, alongside emerging names in the design world - all full of inspiration and exciting new design direction. 

Seck’s curatorial vision — grounded, democratic, and collaborative — turned the space into a living metaphor for the continent’s creative renaissance: history reinhabited by imagination.

Myles Igwe: Njiko 02 — Manifesting Futures

At the G.A.S. Foundation in Maroko, Nigerian designer and curator Myles Igwe presented “Njiko 02 — Manifesting Futures: The Ontology of the Possible."

The exhibition gathered a circle of artists and designers — among them Chinasa Okoro, whose quietly powerful ceramics explored fragility and permanence; Kelechi Odu, whose architectural language interrogated material structure; and Ken Nwadiogbu, whose sculptural interventions bridged fine art and social commentary. 

Together, they created an atmosphere of reflection — where clay, metal, and form became metaphors for possibility. Igwe’s vision underscored a sentiment shared deeply by Decorex: that the future of African design will be built not from imported frameworks, but from the philosophies and material intelligence of the continent itself.

Beyond the Main Stage

Across the city, the festival extended into design districts, showrooms, and partner activations — from the Made by Design Show, Nigeria’s largest interiors trade showcase and Design Intersect 2025 at Soto Gallery. A student design competition with Caverton Marine challenged young designers to rethink maritime mobility, judged by the acclaimed Kurt Merki Jnr, while over 100 citywide activations turned Lagos into a living, breathing canvas for creativity.

A Continental Conversation

For Decorex Africa, the experience reaffirmed what we already know: African design is not defined by any single city or moment — it is a network, alive with collaboration, experimentation, and intent. Lagos 2025 was a valuable chapter in that larger story — one that connects seamlessly with Decorex’s ongoing work across the continent to foster dialogue, opportunity, and growth. Leaders in the field like DWL founder Titi Ogufere remind us how important it is to support and empower these initiatives, and the role they play in shaping the design story of Africa. 

As Decorex prepares for its next edition, the lessons from Lagos will inform the ongoing evolution of Africa’s design economy — from local studios to international fairs, from heritage craftsmanship to cutting-edge innovation. Because design in Africa doesn’t wait for permission. It leads.