CELEBRITY OF THE DAY: UCHE PEDRO....FOUNDER OF BELLANAIJA

Uche Pedro is household name in Nigeria, Africa and all over the world. Uche, a graduate in Business Administration, from the prestigious Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario in Canada with distinction in 2006. She has previously held positions in multinationals including the Cadbury Middle East & Africa Unit, based in the UK, and Cadbury Nigeria.

In February, 2014, Forbes named her as one of the '30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs In Africa in 2014. The citation read thus: ‘The 29 year-old Nigerian media entrepreneur is the founder of  BellaNaija, a thriving new media company that develops online media content for African (primarily Nigerian) audiences. BellaNaija.comis Nigeria’s premier lifestyle, entertainment and fashion website, and garners an average of 10 million page views every month’.

Uche is the Managing Director of BellaNaija and Creative Director of BellaNaija.com, an online company that develops and manages exciting online media content aimed at Pan-African and Nigerian audiences.

 Uche Pedro has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and in September 2010 she was interviewed on CNN International. In 2011, she was selected as a Nigeria Leadership Initiative – NLI Associate, a prestigious distinction for young outstanding Nigerians. In January 2011, Uche was honoured as a “Young Person of the Year” finalist at the Future Awards – the most esteemed youth awards organization in Nigeria. In February 2011, her company was chosen as one of 50 high potential Nigerian SMEs, and was awarded a British Airways Opportunity Grant. In September 2011, Uche was awarded the TW Magazine Protégé Award for Business Entrepreneurship, while in 2012 BellaNaija.com also won the Online Publication of the Year award at the FAB Awards. In February 2014 Uche was named one of the '30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs In Africa in 2014' by Forbes.

Uche’s view  on issues in the Nigerian media scene:"The main issues are both positive and negative. Positive in terms of “giving everyone a voice” especially with online being such an open media. Positive in terms of the countless opportunities for youth engagement and entrepreneurship. Positive in terms of being a social tool for change with initiatives like #LightupNigeria and the recent #ChildnotBride. Negative in terms of the lack of accountability and copyright issues."

Blog with fury celebrates you.

Source: Bellanija/facebook/British council