Belonwus on Why African Culture Needs the Same Design Thinking as Fintech

For five years, the creative agency Belonwus has been proving that branding creates tangible business value. By working with some of Africa’s most influential fintech companies, including Zap by Paystack, Bamboo, Grey, JuicyWay and Cassava, the studio has demonstrated that great design transcends aesthetics. It builds a layer of trust, perception, credibility and opportunity, the kind that lets a Lagos-built product compete on the global stage usually reserved for Silicon Valley polish. 

Jordan Belonwu, Belonwus’ creative director, now sees a similar opportunity within the arts and culture ecosystem. “Before designing identities for startups, my team and I designed the brand identity for Taeilo, the furniture company, and shortly after, the fintech companies started rolling in,” he recalls. The shift from furniture to fintech happened because one successful body of work led to another. Having seen how strategic design helped elevate startups and influence perception, Jordan believes the same opportunity exists for the arts, fashion and culture. 

His argument rests on the notion that Africa’s creative industries already possess extraordinary talent and cultural richness, but the missing opportunity remains in their positioning and identity. “Culture doesn’t automatically translate into currency or global relevance,” he says. 

The problem doesn’t lie with talent but with design. 

Jordan believes design can become the bridge between local cultural significance and global cultural relevance, the same way it became the bridge between Lagos startups and the trust of international investors and users. 

This perspective is shared across the Belonwus team.

Jordan’s background in Art History, alongside years of writing about African art and culture, brings a strong critical lens. Oisemaye’s curatorial experience at Terra Kulture offers an understanding of how cultural work is presented and experienced by audiences. Complementing this, Dare Ogunnaike’s background in architecture introduces a spatial way of thinking, reinforcing the idea that design is about the experience and impact. 

The studio already has proof of what that positioning can look like. The Sporting Lagos rebrand pulled its visual identity from tyre tracks on Lagos roads and the cadence of Nigerian football slang. The result was a jersey people wanted to wear in real life, a tone of voice that sounded like the city itself, and a club that regular Lagosians suddenly claimed as their own. “We saw tweets like: “I think I’ve found my new club.” and “Where can I buy this jersey?” Jordan says, and that’s when he knew people wanted brands that felt like them. 

The studio’s website for visual artist Chidinma Nnoli, built as a digital extension of her practice rather than a static portfolio, and the 1897 project, which presents African cultural narratives through contemporary digital experiences that respect history while engaging modern audiences, extend that same vision further: a brand world for African culture, built with the same strategic thinking that has helped define the fintech companies Jordan has worked with. 

Jordan is careful not to flatten the comparison between fintech and the arts. The stakes, incentives and audiences differ, but he insists that the underinvestment in strategic design for African art, fashion and cultural institutions is a missed opportunity with real commercial consequences. The studio is not walking away from startups that built its name, but simply embracing a perspective they strongly believe in. 

When asked, Jordan Belonwu defined success as African art, fashion and cultural institutions having the same positioning fintech clients fought for: local significance, translated into global relevance.