Product Management in Africa & Dreams of an African Silicon Valley (with Layo Ogunbanwo, Founder @ Practical Product)

An interview with Layo Ogunbanwo. Layo is the VP of Product Strategy for Piggyvest, a Nigerian fintech and also the founder of the Practical Product community, where she's aiming to demystify product management principles and adapt them to Africa's unique environment. Layo launched Practical Product with a groundbreaking report "The State of Product Management in Africa".

We talk about a lot, including:

Her work with Piggyvest in Nigeria, trying to bring financial services to Africans and the company's plans to develop across Africa
What a VP of Product Strategy does and how / if it differs from other product management roles
How her experience across sales & marketing led to a product management career, and how it helped her work cross-functionally
Why she thought it was important to put together the State of PM in Africa report and ambitions for the future
Whether there is any kind of pan-African solidarity amongst product managers or whether all countries are competing against each other
How the report went down with its audience, what the take up and initial feedback has been like
Some of the surprising findings from the report, and why they were surprising
Some of the unique challenges of working in product management in Africa, and their root causes
The gender balance in Africa, and Layo's work to champion equality for women across the continent
Her hopes for African product managers for the upcoming year, and the desire for an African Silicon Valley

And much more!

Get The State of Product Management in Africa Report
"The report is a collection of data that sets a benchmark and brings to life the trends driving product management in Africa. More than 200 product management professionals shared their insights and experiences with us."
 

Get the report here: State of Product Management in Africa Report.

Contact Layo

If you want to catch up with Layo, you can reach her on LinkedIn, Twitter. You can also visit Practical Product on their website practicalproduct.co