Woman Crush Wednesday: 10 things to know about Africa’s woman of calibre, Mosunmola Abudu

You wouldn’t need us to state the obvious, namely that Abudu is a source of inspiration to women. Success doesn’t come easy and Abudu knows that very well. She once noted that “women have to work twice as hard for the same recognition as their male counterparts.”

Seeing people like her breaking glass ceilings, triumphing in men dominated fields, is a genuine encouragement and a statement to young people especially women that dreams are attainable if one is prepared to work for them.

She is our this week’s Woman Crush Wednesday. And if you’re wondering why? Just scroll down to find out more about this amazing, beautiful woman.

1. Mosunmola Abudu who recently hosted a private dinner with Hollywood’s Nigerian actor John Boyega is popularly known as Mo Abudu. She is a Nigerian media mogul, media personality, philanthropist, and a former human resources management consultant.

2. Mo was born in the United Kingdom. At age 7, her family relocated to Lagos, where she was sent to stay with her grandparents at their cocoa farm in Ondo State, to school and learn about Nigerian culture. At age 12, shortly after her father died, she returned to the UK to further her studies. Currently, Mo Abudu lives in Lagos, has a son, a daughter and was formerly married to Tokunbo Abudu.

3. After her first job as a recruitment consultant in 1987, she went on to work at Starform group and later at Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria Limited (now ExxonMobil) where she served as the head of human resources and training unit.

4. In 2000, Mo took the bold step to establish a privately owned specialist human resources development company known as Vic Lawrence & Associates.

5. Mo Abudu started EbonyLife TV, which began broadcasting to a pan-African audience on July 01, 2013 and is regarded as Africa’s first global black entertainment & lifestyle network.

6. Abudu is the executive producer and host of the TV talk show, Moments with Mo, which is the first syndicated daily talk show on African regional television. Moments with Mo’s success and intention to change the world’s perception of the African continent has led to comparisons with Oprah Winfrey, with Africans calling her “Africa’s Oprah” or “Nigerian Winfrey”.

7. Mo Abudu is also the executive director of EbonyLife Films and has produced movies such as Fifty, The Wedding Party movies and The Royal Hibiscus Hotel.

8. She has twice been listed among the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV by The Hollywood Reporter, first in 2013 and again in 2017. She also received an Entrepreneur of the Year award by Women Week in New York in 2014.

9. In 2017, the governing council of the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoDN), yesterday evening awarded Mo Abudu a fellowship of the Institute of Directors Nigeria and also awarded her the 2017 ‘IoD Entrepreneurial Award’. Apparently the first time in the history of the IoDN that anyone has been awarded two awards in the same year.

10. Mo Abudu is currently working on a female warrior project, The Dahomey Warriors, a co-development project between EbonyLife and Sony Pictures Television which is about changing the narrative and sharing African stories with the world.