Mosunmola Abudu, also known as Mo Abudu, is a well-known Nigerian media entrepreneur and philanthropist born in the UK. She obtained her master’s degree in human resource management from a university in London and began working in the field there.
She was, however, confident that entering the show industry was the only way to leave a lasting impact on the minds of those with distorted perceptions of Africa. She is well known for her talk show, Moments with Mo, in which she interviews politicians and intellectuals worldwide.
She founded Ebony Life Television, the first global black multi-broadcast entertainment network in Africa. She serves as Executive Producer of the reality program The Debaters, which provides Africa with a voice. She founded several nonprofit trusts and charitable organizations to help the underprivileged and downtrodden in her nation.
She was recognized with the Entrepreneur of the Year award and included in Forbes Media as the first African woman to create a Pan-African TV station. She was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate and named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV by The Hollywood Reporter.
Biography
| Name | Mosunmola Abudu |
| Career | Ebony TV, Ebony Films, Businesswoman |
| Mo Abudu ex Husband | Tokunbo Abudu (ex) |
| Height | N/A |
| Weight | N/A |
| Children | 2 (make and female) |
| 2 (male and female) | Ridgeway School and Hammersmith County Secondary School. |
Early Life
Mosunmola Abudu (born on September 11, 1964, 61 years old) is the daughter of Nigerian parents from Ondo State. Of her three sisters, she was the oldest. Her parents returned to Lagos to reside when she was seven years old. From there, she traveled to Ondo State to meet her grandparents, who owned a cocoa estate, where she gained an understanding of Nigerian culture. She attended Fiwasaye Girls Grammar School in Nigeria until she was 11.
At 12 years old, her father passed away. She then returned to the UK to complete her education. She attended the Ridgeway School in Kent, where she later lived with her local guardian in the affluent hamlet of Tunbridge after attending Hammersmith County Secondary School.
Before earning her master’s degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Westminster, London, she attended West Kent College and Mid Kent College. She is a member of the British Psychological Society and certified in personality and occupational tests.
Mo Abudu’s Entrepreneurial Journey
They identify an issue and set out to provide a solution, just like any entrepreneur. Mo Abudu identified a challenge that needed an answer: for businesses to advance, they require trained personnel on their staff.
After nearly ten years, she left ExxonMobil and, in 2000, started her own business, Vic Lawrence & Associates Limited. One of Nigeria’s Fastest-Growing Human Resources consulting firms is Vic Lawrence & Associates Limited (VLA).
The business offers several industry management and human resource initiatives. She also operates an executive training facility at the Protea Hotel in Lagos’ Oakwood Park.
Mo Abudu’s Entry into the Nigerian Entertainment Industry
Mo Abudu has always been committed to accurately retelling Africa’s history. Inspire Africa was born out of this. Inspire Africa is a platform established to celebrate Africa’s richness and culture.
Moments with Mo, Africa’s first syndicated daily chat program, was born out of this brand.
She wants the continent of Africa to tell its tale. We have a diverse culture and a wealth of skills, but the positive stories have always been ignored in favor of the negative ones. Moments spent with Mo helped to alter that.
She is the executive producer and host of Moment with Mo. The chat program is shown on cable TV in the UK and 49 African nations.
Many A-list celebrities, governors, presidents, and Nobel Laureates have visited Mo Abudu, including US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
She has made other things besides Moments with Mo. Other TV programs with the same premise of presenting Africa’s story and varied target audiences have been produced by Mo Abudu.
One of her innovations, The Debaters, is a reality television program that provides African adolescents with a voice. Additionally, Diamond Bank is happy to sponsor Naija Diamonds, an award-winning documentary series that honors Nigeria’s unsung heroes.
EbonyLife TV
Nothing compares to having a vision and a strategy to make that goal a reality. Visionary businesswoman Mo Abudu had a plan for future involvement in the media sector. The epitome of it all was Ebony Life TV, which served as its trademark.
In 2013, she launched EbonyLife TV, the first global network dedicated to black entertainment and leisure.
A division of Media and Entertainment City Africa is EbonyLife TV (MEC Africa). Early this year, it began airing on MultiChoice’s DSTV channel 165 before switching to StarTimes Network.
The channel has produced and aired over 5,000 hours of original drama, talk shows, entertainment, and factual content.
The Video-On-Demand (VoD) service EbonyLife ON in Africa and three projects with Sony Pictures Television were among the new initiatives introduced by EbonyLife TV in 2018.
EbonyLife Films
In 2014, Mo started a film production company, Ebony Life Films, to fulfill her dream of telling the stories of Africans. She made her filmmaking debut with the film Fifty.
In the film, four friends in the prime of their careers, living in Lagos, are compelled to evaluate their personal lives as they balance work and family obligations.
The ELFIKE Film Collective, which created the romantic comedy The Wedding Party, included Ebony Life Films. In 2016, one of Nigeria’s biggest box office successes was The Wedding Party.
The ELFIKE Film Collective is a collaboration of four well-known Nigerian film studios, including FilmOne Distribution, EbonyLife Films, Inkblot Productions, and Koga Studios.
These production companies utilize their extensive resources and years of experience to produce Nigerian films with exceptional production values and international appeal.
Mo Abudu is a woman who enjoys learning new things. She reasoned that since she plans to work in the entertainment industry for a long time, she must obtain the necessary professional training. To hone her craft in directing, she enrolled in a class at the London Film School.
She was able to do this since she is already an expert in the commercial side of filmmaking. For business owners, this is a valuable lesson. You must be knowledgeable in your field. Even though you will eventually pay people to do the work, you can’t just start a firm and disappear; you need to have a solid understanding of the fundamentals.
The Wedding Party 2 and The Royal Hibiscus Hotel are other films by Ebony Life Films.
Mo Abudu’s Philanthropic Acts
The Inspire Africa Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Mo Abudu, is dedicated to raising funds to implement programs that promote societal reform.
Together with other nonprofit organizations, the foundation organized a charity concert in 2009 titled Rock with a Conscience to raise funds for basic human needs.
The Inspire Africa Foundation created The Habour, a 100-bed facility for street kids in Lagos, in collaboration with Monero Construction. The organization also runs a charity shop called The Designer Outlet for Charity.
Awards and Achievements
She received the Entrepreneur of the Year award from Women’s Week in New York and was included in Forbes Media as the first African woman to create a Pan-African TV station.
She was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV by The ‘Hollywood Reporter. She has also received the FAME Women Award of Excellence and an honorary doctorate from Babcock University in Nigeria.
Personal Life and Mo Abudu husband
She resides in Lagos with her two children, a son and a daughter from a brief union with Tokunbo. When she is at home, she enjoys spending time with her kids because they are incredibly close to her.
Because of the rigors of her job, she travels extensively across Africa, Europe, and the US. She has consistently fought for the rights of the citizens of her motherland in all of her efforts.
Mo Abudu Net Worth
Mo Abudu is a Nigerian media mogul and philanthropist with an estimated net worth of $10 million. She has amassed enormous wealth thanks to her EbonyLife company.
