Africa's Oprah Winfrey is launching an entertainment network
A woman who could be considered Africa's Oprah
Winfrey is launching an entertainment network that will be beamed into nearly
every country on the continent with programs showcasing its burgeoning middle
class.
Mosunmola "Mo" Abudu wants EbonyLife TV to inspire Africans and the
rest of the world, and change how viewers perceive the continent. The network's
programming tackles women's daily life subjects — everything from sex tips to
skin bleaching.
"Not every African woman has a pile of wood on her head and a baby
strapped to her back!" the glamorous Abudu, 48, told The Associated Press
from a hotel's penthouse floor.
"We watch Hollywood as if all of America
is Hollywood," she said. "In that same vein we need to start selling
the good bits of Africa."
Rebranding Africa
Months of work to provide original content includes the flagship program Sistaz! about two Greek-Nigerian sisters and a British-born
Nigerian friend who check into the Eko Hotel for a holiday reunion and
rediscover the passion of sisterhood and the vibrant city of Lagos.
"It helps show that you can go to Africa for a holiday, you can go to
Nigeria on holiday, you can go to Lagos" and enjoy a vacation, Abudu said
of the much-maligned Nigerian financial capital that is much improved since the
country transitioned from military dictatorship to civilian rule in 1999.
The characters are as cosmopolitan as Abudu, who was born in London, came to
Nigeria when she was a youngster and returned to Britain after her father died
when she was 12. She returned to settle when she married a Nigerian at age 28.
From oil to talk-show host
Once her children were in their teens, Abudu, a former executive with the oil
giant Exxon-Mobil, abandoned a 20-year career in human resources in 2006 to
become a self-taught television talk show host. Moments with Mo
became the first syndicated daily talk show on African regional TV and is also
aired in Britain on a Sky TV channel.
She has interviewed celebrities from Hillary Rodham Clinton, former African
presidents F. W. de Klerk of South Africa and John Kufuor of Ghana, former
England soccer skipper Rio Ferdinand, musician R. Kelly and American fashion
icon Diane Von Furstenberg.
Africa has more to offer than dictators and hardship.
Years later, she is setting out to transform that vision by shining a bright
light on the so-called "dark continent's" riches — its super-talented
young entrepreneurs, fabulous art scene, up-and-coming fashion designers,
provocative authors and sassy musicians.
One program is hosted by rhythm and blues artist Banky W and singer-songwriter
Tiwa Savage. Their first program discusses why more and more Nigerian women are
bleaching their skins and whether men prefer lighter-skinned black women.
While Nollywood movies also are notorious for often poor quality, though this
is improving, Abudu aims for the highest quality in a network she hopes will
eventually be broadcasted beyond Africa to the millions in the diaspora.
"What we say is 'Everything you think you know about Africa is about to
change.'"
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