When the 2025 edition of Design Week Lagos opened on Wednesday, February 26 at the awesome Ecobank Pan African Centre on Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island, it was with the promise of an awesome experience. And indeed, every visitor that walkedinto and through the venue, saw beauty all around – draped in exquisite interior options, magnificent furniture pieces and incredible art pieces.

With a large board dwelling on the greatness and works of legendary Demas Nwoko among the early pavilions and a huge installation by the Nike Art Gallery further in the recesses of the displayed works, among others, any new comer stepping to the expansive centre would be forgiven to think it was an established gallery.

With the theme,‘Building A Made In Nigeria Brand’ prominently displayed, even the brand-new ignition-running NORD car at the entry point showing the evolution of automotive design and assembly in Nigeria, fit perfectly into the picturesque setting.

A tour of the centre showed an impressive line-up of designers, manufacturers, interior makers and even craftsmen and women busy in the very chore of weaving quintessential Nigerian fabrics that easily attract the attention of the world.  

Quite uniquely, a great initiative stood out as a key feature of this year’s edition of the Design Week Lagos – Woodhall Capital expressing a commitment to provide financing for the Nigerian design industry. The financing option, packaged in a series known as Design Den, will afford creatives opportunities to impress judges towards attracting funding for their businesses.

Design Week Lagos’ partnership with Woodhall Capital would birth a new show called Design Den, fashioned in the mould of TV spectacles, which afford young creatives and startup founders the opportunity of pitching ideas to judges towards securing financing options to help them expand and scale up. And the organisers were upbeat that the Design Den would lead to a new era of financing and industrialisation for the design industry.

Speaking to journalists after a tour of the pavilion to herald the Design Week Lagos, organisers expressed the belief that the initiative will drive the creative industry, long regarded as an important cultural force, to reach its full potential as an economic powerhouse. 

Titi Ogufere, founder of Design & Innovation Exhibition, which organises the Design Week Lagos, stated that the idea behind the show was to enhance the creative industry and open a new vista of financing for creatives in the design industry across Nigeria.

“At this year’s Design Week Lagos, we are proud to introduce The Design Den—a first-of-its-kind initiative focused on industrialising and financing the design industry. This is not just about supporting designers; it’s about building an entire ecosystem where creativity meets capital and industry. We are unveiling our vision to transform design into a structured, investment-worthy sector that can drive economic growth across Africa,” Ogufere stated.

She added: “One important thing to note about the partnership we’re building with Woodhall Capital is that we have been able to scale up to commit a lot more funding to the industry. So, we are not afraid, but you have to make sure that your structure is right. You have to make sure that you have done the work, Sometimes, people would come and say I want XYZ amount of funding. And then you have that kind of money. It’s also a journey for us. Sometimes, it’s good for you to see your product and focus on the fact that this product gives you $2,000. But what is the market-ready outlook? This is because when funders give you money, they want to ensure they can get their money back and we have to make sure of that.”

On the level of impact expected with the initiative, especially drawing inspiration from what has been done in other places across the world, Ogufere posited that the importance of funding for the creative sector cannot be overstated, given how financiers have helped to boost the American market for example. 

“We looked at different markets and how different markets have progressed and their economies have been built. If you look at America, America was built by inventors and creators and financiers. The United States economy did not have access to funding and did not have access to that strategic partnership. From America, when we had the top boards designing cars, they needed access to funding to scale, to give it the jobs and all these creators whose products we are enjoying today. 

“In Nigeria, we are rich in creativity. As you walked around, you have seen the works of people designing all sorts of crafts. If these things can be scaled and the right kind of structure put in place, many businesses can scale. I am really excited about this partnership because it is going to open doors that I believe will bring forth an industrial revolution,” she submitted.

While focusing on the fundamentals of her company’s involvement, Mojisola Hunponu-Wusu, founder and CEO of Woodhall Capital, said the motive was to help businesses in the design industry attract funding and investment to increase their operational footprints and expand to different markets.

“We have to test if you actually have clients and customers to see if people would actually pay for this. This will help to ascertain the financial ingenuity of some of the assumptions the designer may have made in creating his or her products. So, more than just a series, there is financial literacy, there is market access, there is global visibility, and market feedback data on whether or not you should be doing something totally or slightly different. It helps with information on maybe you should advise this person to focus on the corporate space where there is a huge gap, with the offices that are coming up today, and people are going back to work after working from home for some time,” Hunponu-Wusu said.

Speaking about her experience since walking into the venue several hours before, the delectable Hunponu-Wusu, an investment banker with over 25 years of experience who is also the President of Woodhall Capital, Woodhall Capital Foundation, and Woodhall Finance House, said she was literally blown away by the sheer beauty, mastery and depth of designs dotting the exhibition centre. 

“I have spent hours reflecting, because I was overwhelmed by the quality of creativity that we saw today going round the pavilion and the intentionality of some of these designers to showcase the best of Africa. It is easier sometimes to do commercially viable Western designs. But from what was on display today, I saw people passionate about what Africa has to offer and bringing their skills to almost be a marketing arm of everything good and creative in Africa. And that really excited me.I saw artworks, chairs, pieces of woods, conference tables, bath tubs, weavings – all showcasing the best of what Nigeria and Africa has to offer,” she added.

On the series, Design Den, which will be on YouTube as a series and widely watched across the world, Hunponu-Wusustated that part of the reasons behind the initiative was the projected positioning of Nigeria and Africa as the bastion of creativity and design. 

“Our role here, particularly with The Design Den, is to take this conversation beyond this exhibition and begin to build a narrative that showcases some of the best we saw to the world, by ensuring the designers have access to funding. We can develop some of the prototypes that we saw today. We saw cars, we saw chairs, bench chairs, 3D designs, creative designs. How can they scale? They need access to capital so that the world can see industrialisation and the applicants themselves can industrialise. For us at Woodhall Capital, we have decided to put our money where our mouth is. If indeed we want to showcase Africa to the world, the funding has to actually start by Africans for Africans. It is a pleasure to have this unique partnership with Design Week Lagos.

“We are looking forward to actually being a judge on some of these cases. I am very interested in the creative sector. I am looking forward to us beginning to see some of the things on exhibition being showcased as the best that Africa has to provide,” she asserted.

According to the organisers, designers, makers, and manufacturers are brimming with innovation across Africa but many struggle to scale their operations due to limited access to financing, lack of structured investment, and an absence of industrial infrastructure.

To make funding, industrialisation, strategic partnership opportunities available, Design Den will be a key driver of industrial and economic development. This will be achieved with Woodhall Capital bringing financing solutions directly to the design sector and providing structured funding to ensure designers, makers, and manufacturers are able to invest in production facilities and expand their market reach to position Africa as an emerging leader in global design and manufacturing.

A prominent feature of the Design Lagos Week this year is a room showcasing some of Nigeria’s architectural landmarks while paying tribute to the inventiveness of their creators. The National Theatre in Lagos, Cocoa House in Ibadan, the Central Bank of Nigeria building in Lagos were included in these special milestones with a brief history of the structures.

Meant to foster a dialogue between design and industry, there were too many touchpoints of incredible designs and mind-blowing beauty. The edition of Design Week Lagos had an impressive line-up of manufacturers, designers and interior makers like Taeillo, Savalani Furniture, TRT Aredo, Smart Owie, Abiodun Shonibare, Fadhi Yusuf, Tunji Lana, Donna Duke, Kofar Mata, Mata Dieying Pits Kano, Chira Pottery, and Aisha Kuranga, among others.