When BellaNaija interviewed Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu who founded ColdHubs – a cold chain network reducing post-harvest losses for small-scale farmers, a friend of mine had just started purchasing vegetables in large quantities from Jos to resell in Lagos. He incurred massive losses recurrently. Why? The roads were bad, the journeys were long and exhausting, and more than half of the produce spoiled before they got to Mile 12 market. After several months, he gave up. Nnaemeka, in his interview, emphasised the need to have cold storage in markets to enable local farmers to store their produce for a long time.
Although Global Goal 2 is to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030, in Nigeria, up to 40% of food production is lost due to spoilage and poor storage infrastructure. Without scaling local innovations like ColdHubs to meet these challenges, ending hunger by 2030 will remain out of reach.
My friend’s story is why Goalkeepers Lagos 2025 felt especially timely and powerful for me. For the first time, Goalkeepers brought together creators, change-makers and innovators together under one roof with a curated program of panel discussions, storytelling, and musical performances celebrating African innovation.
It was not just a conference, it was a gathering of brilliant people committed to solving the everyday challenges that affect us all, and a reminder that we cannot afford to outsource the solutions to African challenges; they have to come from us. But more than that, it was a testament to the fact that Africans are not sitting idly by, waiting to be saved. The innovators, change-makers, speakers, panelists, and performers in attendance are actively contributing to the future we want to see. They are keeping Africa in motion. Here are my 3 favourite moments from Goalkeepers Lagos 2025.
The Speeches
When Goalkeepers Lagos host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, got on stage, he said that solutions to African problems must be localised. In other words, we need local solutions for local challenges. And every speaker that day stood as proof that Africans are doing just that: finding innovative ways to tackle the issues that plague the continent. Ebuka said, “Innovation is local; it is lived”. Did you know that Eniola Mafe-Abaga, founder of Bridges to Prosperity has built over 600 bridges across the continent? Impressive, you’d say. But the wow moment, for me, was when she said, “I made a long time bet on Africa.”
This sums up her drive to not only build bridges but to advocate for rural mobility as a policy and investment priority. African solutions are coming from Africa-led innovations. From people who keep making long-term bets on the continent and in their various countries. Like Kenya’s Wawira Njiru, CEO of Food4Education.
At Goalkeepers Lagos 2025, she took to the stage and mentioned that her foundation feeds 530,000 children in public primary school children in the urban and peri-urban areas of Kenya daily. Take a moment to digest this. Wawira is leading the charge on locally rooted and African-led food systems. Her organisation has created a sustainable model of providing locally sourced, high quality, nutritious meals to public primary school children. This model is creating the first sustainable path to solve the child nutrition crisis for 500 million African children.
Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson converted her grief to innovation and built Healthtracka, a health tech company making medical diagnostics accessible and affordable with at-home lab testing. One of her self sampling STI kit is called Lemon, a name carefully selected to help women make purchases discreetly and without shame. It’s a thoughtful solution rooted in a deep understanding of local communities and the stigma that often surrounds sexually transmitted infections. When we truly understand our communities, we’re able to provide localised solutions to local problems.
This is what it means to make a long-term bet and commitment to the continent. And that’s what sets the future of Africa in Motion.
Panel Sessions
Many Christmases ago, during ‘BN Do Good’ – a yearly BellaNaija initiative, we visited Mama Moni office where Nkem Okocha had put together Christmas packages for women from low income families with the majority of them being widows. It was my first time hearing of Mama Moni and I was in awe of how seen and supported these women felt. The tears, the joy, the laughter and happiness that radiated from them as they shared their financial journeys with the help of Mama Moni emphasised the need for community-driven solutions within the country and continent.
During her panel session at Goalkeepers Lagos 2025, Nkem shared that the idea for Mama Moni was born out of the pressing need to support low-income women, as 8 out of 10 of them had no access to loans to fund their businesses. Solutions to the continent’s pressing needs are local. They are tangible. Global innovations are great, but what promises do they hold for the people when they aren’t localised?
Bayo said that you cannot shave a man’s head when he’s absent and I agree. He said, “It is imperative to build AI that is localised and true to what makes us a people. Data must be collected by the people and nuance built by the people.” The goals may be global, but can the solutions be local? This is something I have thought of every day since Goalkeepers Lagos 2025.
I am also seeing in real time the importance of localised solutions. Aliko Dangote mentioned during the Bill Gates panel session that Nigeria used to be a major importer of cement, but now we’re one of the major exporters. That, I am reminded, is the power of building from within.
Performances
Listen, MI Abaga did an amazing job as the music curator of Goalkeepers Lagos 2025. From the urban choir performances to Waje singing about the continent; I had goosebumps. Performers came in waving flags and it is in moments like this one’s hearts swell in pride of being African. From the choir singing, to MI and Waje performing to Kaffy dancing, one is again reminded of the immense talent that thrives on this continent.
If there’s one thing Goalkeepers Lagos 2025 reminded me of, it’s that there is more – for the continent, for our countries, for the people. Our future is already in progress, and Africa is in motion.
