Meet

the Speakers

The Inspire Africa Conference brings together local and international product and training leaders to drive impact in the African product community.

Check out our speakers for 2026.
More to be announced.

2026 Speakers

Annu Augustine

Annu Augustine

Founder

NedRock TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Annu Augustine

Founder · NedRock

Annu Augustine is a product management coach and consultant working with product teams and leaders across Africa to build products that create impact. She is the founder of NedRock, a product management training and consulting company established in 2016.

With over 25 years of experience spanning software engineering and product leadership, Annu has worked with early-stage startups, scaling tech companies, and large institutions.

Named one of the 50 Most Inspiring South African Women in STEM (2018), she also founded the Cape Town Product Meetup and actively mentors emerging product leaders.

Charity Ibhadon

Charity Ibhadon

Global Product Director

WPP TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Charity Ibhadon

Global Product Director · WPP

Charity Ibhadon is a senior product leader with extensive experience shaping digital products, leading multidisciplinary teams, and driving customer-centred innovation globally.

Charity holds an Executive MBA with Distinction from Bayes Business School, a BSc in Management from LSE, and professional qualifications in Business Analysis and People Leadership.

Known for connecting vision with execution, she specializes in building high-performing teams and turning complex challenges into clear opportunities.

Chidi Afulezi

Chidi Afulezi

Managing Principal

redKola digital labs TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Chidi Afulezi

Managing Principal · redKola

Known as the Product Sensei, Chidi Afulezi brings over 15 years of product experience inside AT&T, Sony Music, Time Warner, and Turner Broadcasting, along with founding companies like aKoma Media.

He serves as Head Faculty for Product at ALU's School of Business, teaches via UC Berkeley Executive Education, and coaches clients like Disney and Smart Africa through redKola.

A prolific writer and speaker, Chidi delivers candid insights through his TEDx talk on "Grey Gold" and his newsletter, Fashi Mindset.

Christian Idiodi

Christian Idiodi

Partner

SVPG TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Christian Idiodi

Partner · SVPG

Christian Idiodi is a Partner at Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG) with decades of experience advising global enterprise leadership teams and tech ventures on building impactful products.

Deepankar Rustagi

Deepankar Rustagi

Chief Executive Officer

OMNIRETAIL TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Deepankar Rustagi

CEO · OMNIRETAIL

Deepankar Rustagi is the Founder and CEO of OmniRetail, one of Africa’s leading B2B commerce and embedded finance platforms transforming FMCG distribution across the continent.

He has built a technology-driven ecosystem connecting manufacturers, distributors, logistics partners, and retailers to improve market access and financial inclusion.

Under his leadership, OmniRetail was recognized by the Financial Times in 2024 as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies.

Joca Torres

Joca Torres

Founder

Gyaco TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Joca Torres

Founder · Gyaco

Joca Torres is a digital product advisor with over 30 years of hands-on experience, starting in 1992 when he founded his first ISP startup.

He has served as CPTO/CPO at Locaweb, Conta Azul, and Gympass, and led digital transformation at Lopes as CDO. He is the author of four books on digital product management and co-founder of ReveLumi.

Lolan Moodley

Lolan Moodley

Head of Product Dev & Mgmt

Absa Bank Limited TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Lolan Moodley

Head of Product · Absa Bank

Lolan Moodley brings over 15 years of product and digital transformation leadership across payments, digital banking, and product management in Africa.

At Absa, he directs multidisciplinary teams modernising digital platforms and turning product investment into measurable business value.

He is passionate about building high-performing product organisations and challenging traditional ways of working.

Makopi Nkopodi

Makopi Nkopodi

Executive - PDI Strategy

Nedbank TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Makopi Nkopodi

Executive · Nedbank

Makopi Nkopodi is an Executive responsible for Strategy & Integration within Product, Design & Innovation (PDI) in Personal and Private Banking at Nedbank.

Throughout her career, she has focused on connecting strategy to delivery, enabling teams to harness innovation, data, and emerging technologies to translate vision into measurable outcomes.

Olu Delano

Olu Delano

Executive Director, Personal & Private Banking

Stanbic IBTC Bank TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Olu Delano

Speaker & Leader · Stanbic IBTC Bank

Olu Delano, popularly known as Olu D, is a distinguished financial expert with over 30 years of experience across the global financial industry. He has held leadership roles at Stanbic IBTC Bank, Bank of Montreal, NatWest UK, and Wachovia Bank (Canada).

Since joining Stanbic IBTC in 2009, Olu established the Leverage and Acquisition Finance team, facilitating funding that supported business growth across Nigeria and Africa. He later served as Head of Client Coverage Nigeria, leading wholesale client strategy across key sectors and strengthening strategic partnerships.

In 2022, he became Executive Director of Personal and Private Banking (PPB) Nigeria. Under his leadership, the PPB team achieved its first-ever profitability, demonstrating his visionary, results-driven leadership.

Olu is recognised for building high-performing teams, developing talent, and consistently delivering transformative results.

Olawale Oladunni

Olawale Oladunni

Global Sr. Director, Product Design

Delivery Hero SE TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Olawale Oladunni

Global Sr. Director · Delivery Hero

Olawale is an accomplished digital strategist and product leader with over 25 years of experience building and leading design teams. He currently leads Global Product Design & UX Research for Quick Commerce at Delivery Hero in Berlin.

His background includes managing B2B design innovation teams at LinkedIn in San Francisco and leading Walmart Grocery's omni-channel UX team through foundational growth.

Petra Wille

Petra Wille

Product Leadership Coach

STRONG Product People TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Petra Wille

Author & Coach · STRONG Product People

Petra Wille is an independent product leadership coach, author of STRONG Product People, and creator of the Product Leadership Wheel.

Since 2013, she has helped product leaders and teams worldwide boost their skill sets. Alongside her freelance work, Petra co-organizes Product at Heart in Hamburg, Germany.

Roger Norton

Roger Norton

Chief Product Officer

OkHi TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Roger Norton

CPO · OkHi

Roger Norton has dedicated his 15-year career to building great product teams, having created over 80 products as a three-time founder with one exit.

Currently CPO at OkHi, he is reinventing address verification across emerging markets. He previously served as Head of Product at Founders Factory Africa and authored Start Here.

Victor Ndukauba

Victor Ndukauba

Group Deputy Managing Director

Afrinvest TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Victor Ndukauba

Group Deputy MD · Afrinvest

Victor Ndukauba serves as Deputy Managing Director of Afrinvest (West Africa) Ltd, supporting strategy, investment banking execution, and operational oversight for IT, Finance, and Risk.

He began his career at PwC in 2005 before joining Afrinvest in 2008. He holds a degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from UNILAG and an MBA from IE Business School.

Akeminiabasi Mercy Ubit

Akeminiabasi Mercy Ubit

Canvassador

Canva TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Akeminiabasi Mercy Ubit

Canvassador · Canva

Akeminiabasi Mercy Ubit is a Nigerian digital strategist, writer, and visual designer. She focuses on creating compelling visual and narrative experiences that promote digital engagement.

Olu Akanmu

Olu Akanmu

Executive in Residence

Lagos Business School TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Olu Akanmu

Executive in Residence· Lagos Business School

Olu Akanmu is former President and Co- CEO of OPay-Nigeria. He is an Executive in Residence at the Lagos Business School where he also serves as Academic Director of the Lagos Business School Tech-Leap Initiative.

Abiola Laseinde

Abiola Laseinde

Founder

The CIO & C-Suite Club Africa Founder TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Abiola Laseinde

Founder · The CIO & C-Suite Club Africa

Abiola Laseinde is an award-winning legal and business executive with over 20 years of experience across manufacturing, banking, extractive industries, and transformation. She is the Founder and CEO of Edniesal Consulting, providing advisory services in governance, regulatory compliance, innovation, business development, and event management across Africa.

Shina Arogundade

Shina Arogundade

CEO

MYITURA TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Shina Arogundade

CEO · MYITURA

Shina Arogundade is a faith driven technology entrepreneur, healthcare innovator, and co-founder and CEO of MyItura, a healthcare access and financing company building digital infrastructure to make quality care more accessible, affordable, and coordinated across Africa.

David Oritsejolomi

David Oritsejolomi

Founder

PActo TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

David Oritsejolomi

Founder · Pacto

Oritsejolomi David is the cofounder and CEO of Pacto, a Lagos based fintech company helping people build better systems around money. Pacto helps users plan their income, protect money for bills, and manage daily cashflow without relying on willpower alone.

Hertz Fauzan Kakooza

Hertz Fauzan Kakooza

Founder

Train of Thought TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Hertz Fauzan Kakooza

Founder · Train of Thought

Hertz Fauzan is an African entrepreneur, product engineer, and business strategist who designs cross-continental tech and financial systems. Over the past decade, he has driven million-dollar product and marketing developments for global giants like Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, and British Petroleum, while also advising regional governments.

Founders’ Town Hall Speakers

Akachukwu Okafor

Akachukwu Okafor

CTO & Co-founder

Shuttlers TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Akachukwu Okafor

CTO · Shuttlers Session: Pricing for Value

Akachukwu Okafor is a seasoned technology leader and entrepreneur with over 12 years of experience in the tech industry, including 7 years in leadership roles. He has built a strong track record of developing scalable, profitable products and leading high-performing Product, IT, and Engineering teams.

From 2019 to 2021, Akachukwu served as Chief Technology Officer at Schoolable. He is also the Founder and CEO of GetPayed Technology Solutions Limited and currently serves as CTO and Co-founder of Shuttlers, where he leads Product, IT, and Engineering and has overseen the development of more than six products.

With deep expertise across technology, product development, mobility, and financial technology, Akachukwu is passionate about building innovative solutions that solve real-world problems and creating teams capable of scaling them sustainably.

LinkedIn →
Dayo Famakinwa

Dayo Famakinwa

Chief Product Officer

Energage TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Dayo Famakinwa

CPO · Energage Session: Who Builds With You

Dayo Famakinwa builds products that shape who gets hired and whether they stay. At Indeed, as VP of Product for Indeed Hire, he led the recruiting automation portfolio, the systems that decide which candidates an employer ever sees.

Today he is Chief Product Officer at Energage, the company behind Top Workplaces. Energage surveys employees at thousands of companies and also builds the talent management tools managers use once the survey is in, covering performance reviews, goals, and manager development.

He is also co-founder of Layo Social, an agentic AI platform built for real world connection among college students and young adults. Layo uses AI agents to turn loose interest into actual plans, and begins its first campus pilot at Georgia State University.

LinkedIn →
Joycee Awosika

Joycee Awosika

Founder & Managing Director

ORÍKÌ Group TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Joycee Awosika

Founder & MD · ORÍKÌ Group Session: The Repeatable Offer

Joycee Awosika is an award-winning entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, energy economist and global speaker. She is the Founder and Managing Director of ORÍKÌ Group, a multi-country, vertically integrated wellness company spanning spa and hospitality, manufacturing, technology, training, consumer products and social impact.

Since founding ORÍKÌ in 2015, Joycee has grown the company to 16+ wellness destinations across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates, alongside an OEM/ODM manufacturing operation serving more than 100 brands. She is on the Technical Committee on Beauty Care and Wellbeing for the Standards Organization of Nigeria, and is the Founder of SOAR, a business growth platform helping entrepreneurs build scalable and sustainable organizations.

Prior to entrepreneurship, Joycee served as Technical Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Power, contributing to Nigeria’s Power Sector Privatization Reform. Her work has been featured on CNN, CNBC, The Huffington Post and Ebony Magazine, and she has spoken at more than 200 events globally.

LinkedIn →
James Nelson

James Nelson

Co-founder

Storipod TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

James Nelson

Co-founder · Storipod Panel: What You Say No To

James Nelson is the Co-founder of Storipod, a mobile first storytelling and entertainment platform built to help African creators create, publish, distribute and earn from their work. Storipod has grown to over 200,000 users and more than 400,000 stories, with the platform expanding across books, comics, AI powered audio and video.

James has close to a decade of experience building technology products across mobility, fintech and consumer technology. Before Storipod, he led product at Shuttlers and AXA, with past experience at Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company and Interswitch, and has worked on products serving users across Africa.

At Storipod, he is focused on building the technology and distribution infrastructure that can help African stories and intellectual property reach global audiences.

LinkedIn →
David Fisayo

David Fisayo

Managing Director

SureGifts TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

David Fisayo

Managing Director · SureGifts Session: Two Ways In

David Fisayo is Managing Director of SureGifts, Nigeria’s leading enterprise platform for rewards, incentives and loyalty, serving 1,000+ corporate clients through 400+ merchants across Nigeria and Kenya.

Previously, David was co-founder and COO of Wealth8, an FCA-regulated digital investment platform acquired by LemFi in 2026. Before that, he spent eight years at KPMG working on proposition and product design for fintechs and global banks including HSBC and Barclays. He also co-founded Foundervine, an award-winning UK startup accelerator and is an angel investor across the UK and Africa.

David is particularly interested in what comes after payments in Africa: building products that help businesses distribute, control and measure value.

LinkedIn →
Ope Oyinloye

Ope Oyinloye

Group Chief Operating Officer

Paga Group Ltd TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Ope Oyinloye

Group COO · Paga Group Ltd Session: Two Ways In

Ope Oyinloye is the Group Chief Operating Officer of Paga Group Ltd and Chief Executive Officer of Pagatech Limited (Paga Nigeria). He has over a decade of experience in operations, customer experience, and business transformation across fintech and telecommunications.

Before his current role, Ope served as General Manager, Business Operations and previously led Customer Experience at Paga. He also spent over 10 years at Etisalat Nigeria (now 9mobile). He is passionate about building resilient, high-performing organisations and developing systems that enable scale, efficiency, and long-term value.

LinkedIn →
Olawale Oladunni

Olawale Oladunni

Global Sr. Director, Product Design & UX Research

Delivery Hero SE TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Olawale Oladunni

Global Sr. Director · Delivery Hero Session: What You Think You Know

Olawale is an accomplished digital strategist and product leader with over 25 years of experience building and leading design teams. He currently leads Global Product Design & UX Research for Quick Commerce at Delivery Hero in Berlin.

His background includes managing B2B design innovation teams at LinkedIn in San Francisco and leading Walmart Grocery's omni-channel UX team through foundational growth.

Chidi Afulezi

Chidi Afulezi

Managing Principal

redKola digital labs TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Chidi Afulezi

Managing Principal · redKola Session: What Yesterday Changed

Known as the Product Sensei, Chidi Afulezi brings over 15 years of product experience inside AT&T, Sony Music, Time Warner, and Turner Broadcasting, along with founding companies like aKoma Media.

He serves as Head Faculty for Product at ALU's School of Business, teaches via UC Berkeley Executive Education, and coaches clients like Disney and Smart Africa through redKola.

A prolific writer and speaker, Chidi delivers candid insights through his TEDx talk on "Grey Gold" and his newsletter, Fashi Mindset.

Christian Idiodi

Christian Idiodi

Partner

SVPG TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Christian Idiodi

Partner · SVPG Session: Start With the Problem

Christian Idiodi is a Partner at Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG) with decades of experience advising global enterprise leadership teams and tech ventures on building impactful products.

Charity Ibhadon

Charity Ibhadon

Global Product Director

WPP TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Charity Ibhadon

Global Product Director · WPP

Charity Ibhadon is a senior product leader with extensive experience shaping digital products, leading multidisciplinary teams, and driving customer-centred innovation globally.

Charity holds an Executive MBA with Distinction from Bayes Business School, a BSc in Management from LSE, and professional qualifications in Business Analysis and People Leadership.

Known for connecting vision with execution, she specializes in building high-performing teams and turning complex challenges into clear opportunities.

Hertz Fauzan Kakooza

Hertz Fauzan Kakooza

Founder

Train of Thought TAP / HOVER FOR BIO →

Hertz Fauzan Kakooza

Founder · Train of Thought Panel: What You Say No To

Hertz Fauzan is an African entrepreneur, product engineer, and business strategist who designs cross-continental tech and financial systems. Over the past decade, he has driven million-dollar product and marketing developments for global giants like Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, and British Petroleum, while also advising regional governments.

Who We Are

The Inspire Africa Conference brings together local and international product and training leaders to drive impact in the African product community and is organised by a few amazing companies, all working to upskill African product experts.

Silicon Valley Product Group is a team of industry veterans who have held executive level positions at major Silicon Valley companies and are eager to help the product community in Africa build great products.

Wicked Innovation Labs brings together founders, problem-solvers, creatives, and tinkerers to identify, design, and build ventures that matter through hackathons, ideathons, pitch competitions, and venture-building programmes.

The Product Leadership Accelerator (PLA) is a premier, comprehensive talent discovery and acceleration program designed to elevate the field of product management across Africa.

Innovate Africa Foundation’s mission is to create opportunities for meaningful solutions to some of the hardest problems in Africa through enabling technology.

The Innovate Africa Fund is a $2.5m angel fund for early-stage, Africa-focused startups solving complex problems with purpose-driven technology.

Worknigeria helps the Nigerian workforce find meaningful jobs and upskills them to help them grow with and within their careers.

We are thrilled to have Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG) partners coaching, training, and advising the incredible product community in Africa.

The SVPG partners are authors of books INSPIRED, EMPOWERED & TRANSFORMED and have championed techniques that the best companies in the world use to build products customers love.

Don’t miss out on Africa’s Largest Tech Product Conference

Join Us!