DevFest Lagos 2024 demonstrated the growing maturity of Nigeria’s technology ecosystem by bringing software development, product management, design, business strategy and responsible innovation into the same conversation.
Organised by Google Developer Groups Lagos, the conference took place on 15 and 16 November 2024 at the Landmark Event Centre in Lagos. More than 3,400 people attended the two-day event, including developers, product professionals, founders, designers, technology leaders and aspiring innovators.
The scale of the conference was impressive, but its greater achievement was the diversity of its programme. Sessions covered areas including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, software engineering, product management, UX/UI design, mobile development, cybersecurity and entrepreneurship. Rather than treating technology purely as a collection of tools, several discussions examined how digital products can solve real problems while remaining sustainable, trustworthy and compliant.
Alexander Monedo Takes Design Thinking Beyond Interfaces
One of the product-focused speakers was Alexander Monedo, Digital Product Manager at WakaForMe, a digital ride-hailing and online taxi-booking platform.
Monedo delivered a session titled “Design Thinking for Problem-Solving: Beyond UX Design.” The presentation was framed around applying design-thinking and product-management methods to complex challenges, rather than limiting design thinking to interfaces, visual elements or conventional UX activities.
His professional experience at WakaForMe gave the session practical relevance. Developing a ride-hailing platform requires an understanding of passengers, drivers, marketplace operations, service reliability, customer trust and changing business requirements. These are interconnected problems that cannot be resolved through interface design alone.
The session highlighted the wider role of design thinking in understanding users, defining the correct problem, testing assumptions and developing solutions through continuous learning. This practical product-management perspective made the subject relevant to founders, designers, developers and professionals responsible for delivering digital services.
Balancing Innovation, Agility and Compliance
Monedo also participated in the panel discussion titled “Balancing Innovation, Agility and Compliance.”
The advertised panel included Ngozi Chukwu, a reporter at TechCabal; Seyi Akamo, Chief Technology Officer at TUROG; Alexander Monedo, Digital Product Manager at WakaForMe; and Chesvic Hillary, Senior Software Engineer at GeegPay. Post-event reporting also identified Babajide Shoyebo, Senior Product Manager at SeerBit, as a contributor to the discussion.
The professional backgrounds of the panellists allowed the subject to be considered from several important perspectives.
Chukwu brought the wider technology-industry and media perspective, while Akamo represented the responsibilities of technical leadership. Hillary contributed an engineering viewpoint concerning how innovation and product decisions are translated into reliable technical systems.
Monedo represented the product-management perspective, including the need to understand users, respond to market demands and coordinate product, engineering and business priorities. His experience with WakaForMe provided a practical foundation for examining how technology companies can develop quickly while continuing to consider operational responsibilities and the needs of different user groups.
Post-event coverage reported that Shoyebo discussed the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between innovation, agility and compliance when building sustainable businesses. Drawing on SeerBit’s operational experience, he addressed the need for technology companies to innovate without overlooking regulatory responsibilities and long-term business resilience.
The panel’s central message was timely. Innovation without appropriate controls can expose a business and its users to unnecessary risks. However, excessive processes can slow development and prevent companies from responding to customer needs. Successful digital businesses must therefore build compliance and responsibility into product development without treating them as obstacles to innovation.
An Energetic and Engaged Audience
The audience response across DevFest Lagos 2024 was strongly positive. GDG Lagos’s post-event communication described attendees leaving sessions re-energised and equipped with new ideas for their careers and projects. The presence of more than 3,400 attendees also reflected the strong appetite for practical technology education, professional networking and knowledge exchange within the Lagos technology community.
The event created opportunities for attendees to learn directly from practitioners, ask questions, explore digital products and connect with professionals from different areas of the industry. Post-event reports described an energetic atmosphere and meaningful conversations between speakers, sponsors, developers and other participants.
A Valuable Platform for Practical Technology Leadership
DevFest Lagos 2024 succeeded because it combined technical learning with broader conversations about users, business sustainability, leadership and responsible innovation.
Alexander Monedo’s participation as both a speaker and panellist strengthened the product-management dimension of the event. His invitation reflected external recognition of his practical experience developing and managing a real digital platform.
The event also showed that Africa’s technology ecosystem does not lack ideas or ambition. Its next stage of development will depend on professionals who can convert those ideas into useful, scalable and responsible digital products.
Sources: DevFest Lagos 2024 official website, official Google Developer Groups event listing and post-event coverage containing the organiser’s attendance figure.
Writer Profile
Gbenga Sesan (Nigeria): is a Senior Journalist at TechInfoAfrica, who regularly publishes critiques and policy briefs concerning digital rights, privacy, surveillance, and civic spaces under authoritarian digital policies in African nations.
One lesson I took from Alexander’s presentation was the importance of understanding the real user problem before developing a solution. We have since introduced this approach into our product meetings at Tech Hauz.
Alexander’s explanation of testing assumptions encouraged us to trial a feature or process with a smaller user group before a full launch.
After attending Alexander’s session, I started involving users earlier in our product-development process. This helped our team identify issues before investing further development time.
My biggest takeaway from Alexander’s session was that an attractive interface cannot compensate for solving the wrong problem. This has influenced how my company evaluate new product ideas.
Following the panel discussion, our team began considering regulatory and operational risks earlier rather than waiting until the end of development.
The session on design thinking changed how I approach problem-solving. I now spend more time validating assumptions before recommending technical solutions.
Alexander Monedo’s session helped me understand that design thinking goes beyond interface design. I applied the problem-definition approach at our organization, and it improved how our team approached projects.
The presentation gave me a better understanding of product management as a discipline that connects customer needs, technology and business objectives.
Alexander’s practical examples from WakaForMe made the session relatable. His explanation of user needs, operational challenges and business priorities helped me improve how I contribute to product development.
The panel on balancing innovation, agility and compliance was one of the most relevant discussions for me. It helped us reconsider how compliance is incorporated into product planning.
The panel helped me understand that compliance does not have to prevent innovation. The real challenge is designing responsible controls into the product from the beginning.
Alexander Monedo’s session helped me understand that design thinking goes beyond interface design. I applied the problem-definition approach, and it improved how our team approached the problem.
Alexander’s session helped me improve the questions I ask during user interviews. This has produced more useful insights for our product or service.
Alexander’s product-management perspective during the panel helped me improve how I balance customer requests with engineering capacity and business priorities.
Alexander clearly explained why successful products require collaboration between product, engineering and business teams. I used this lesson to improve communication across departments.
I found Alexander Monedo’s presentation very practical. The techniques he shared helped me structure our product-discovery conversations more effectively.
Alexander’s discussion of continuous learning and testing helped our team improve how we collect and use customer feedback.
The WakaForMe examples showed how product managers must consider users, operations, trust and service reliability together. I have applied this broader perspective in my work.
I introduced a clearer problem statement into our planning sessions after listening to Alexander. It helped the team agree on what we were trying to solve before discussing features.
One lesson I took from Alexander’s presentation was the importance of understanding the real user problem before developing a solution.
I appreciated that Alexander did not treat design thinking as something reserved for designers. His session showed developers, founders and product professionals how they could use it in their everyday work.
I totally enjoyed every conversation. Thank you for bringing to us such great speakers!
Seyi Akamo’s technical-leadership perspective helped me reflect on how engineering decisions affect long-term product performance.