If we are chosen Best Entertainment/Celebrity and Gossip blog in Nigeria then Bellanaija.com must be listed among.
Now, who is the Ceo of Bellanaija? Uche Pedro is the founder of BellaNaija platform
Contents
Uche Pedro Biography
- Uchenna Jennifer Eze is known as Uche Pedro Is a Nigerian Blogger, entrepreneur, and social media expert who is the CEO and founder of BellaNaija’s which has grown through its collective brands – BellaNaija.com, BellaNaija Weddings, and BellaNaija Style
- The good thing about the BellaNaija platform is that Uche instilled ethics and a guide in their publishing. There is a balance in the platform and they are not driven by the craze to publish anything just for traffic.
Early Life & Education
- Uche Pedro was born on July 26, 1984, She hails from the eastern part of Nigeria
- She had her primary and secondary school education in Nigeria before moving to Canada where she continued her education at Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada, and graduated with a Bachelor in Business Administration.
Career
- Uche Eze Pedro started with a post-graduation job with Shell Canada, then Cadbury Middle East and African Unit in the UK and finally Cadbury In Nigeria.
- The idea for establishing BellaNaija came while she was studying at a university in Canada. She had two weeks’ holiday and soon got bored.
- She came to Nigeria and observe the growing improvements in fashion, entertainment, and business.
- So she was inspired to start something that represented this exciting young vibe in the country,
- BellaNaija was founded in July 2006 as a hobby where she was scanning magazine articles, pictures and interviews, and posting.
- She started with google free web hosting platform “www.bellanaija.blogspot.com” and she later moved to “bellanaija.com”.
- BellaNaija portal began to have over 1 million hits every month, at which time she unveiled the personality behind the portal to the media
- Uche realized the potential of what she was building and she went ahead to organize the business.
- She took a step in organizing the business by registering a parent company, BainStone Limited.
- BainStone Limited is focused on developing and managing innovative and exciting online media content for Africans.
- The company was among the 50 high potential SMEs chosen and awarded a British Airways, Opportunity Grant.
- She is a Nigeria Leadership Initiative associate and a Fellow of TEDGlobal. Uche is also a member, Board of Director of LEAP (Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability, and Professional) Africa, a nonprofit organization founded in 2002.
- Today, the BellaNaija Platform is one of the top 100 sites in Nigeria and continues to grow its visitor base, attracting fashion-savvy audiences who want to spend time on a portal that understands fashion, trends, music, celebrity, and earns huge revenue from Google Adsense, direct adverts, sponsored post and wedding features.
- Uche Pedro has been building and expanding the BellaNaija brand and ‘productizing’ different segments of the brand, for instance, there is the BellaNaijaStyle.com. The Bellanaija brand achieved the great feat last year and worthy of mention is their partnership with the United Nations Office of the Commissioner for Human right for International Women’s Day, 2017 to create awareness to issues affecting women in Africa
Personal Life
- She married Olabode Pedro On the 16th of June 2012, the son of a one-time deputy governor of Lagos state and they are blessed with a set of twins.
- Uche Pedro received an invite to The Obama Foundation Summit; a 2-day gathering of about 500 civic leaders from around the world. The BellaNaija team completed the Stanford Seed Transformation Program in 2017, a 12- month program where high potential leaders are challenged to assess their companies’ vision and redefine strategies.
Recognition
- 2019 Speaker BBC “Countering Fake News” Even
- Speaker 2018 “Bloomberg Africa Business Media Innovators” Forum
- Keynote Speaker #ADICOMDAYS2018
- OkayAfrica100 Women campaign
- Gates Foundation/Gates Africa #GatesLetter Campaign
- 2017 Obama Summit – “Civic Leader Making a Difference around the World
- Stanford Seed Transformation Programme
- SME 100 List of 100 most innovative female-owned businesses in Nigeria
- Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards – African Blogger of the Year
- Nigeria’s 100 Most Inspiring Women – #YWomen100 #LLA100Women 2016
- Forbes 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs In Africa- 2015
- QUARTZ’S List of 30 African Innovators
- Ventures Africa – Most Influential CEOs of 2015
- Tiffany Amber Women of Vision Honouree – 2014
- Forbes 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs In Africa – 2014
- New African Magazine’s “50 Trailblazers under 50 Made in Africa” List
- Forty-Forty: A Compendium of Young African Legends by Ventures Africa
- New African Woman Magazine – 10 Young Nigerian Women to Watch
- Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI) Future Leaders Seminar
- TEDGlobal Fellow
- Forbes 50 Most Power Women In Africa – 2020
Award
- In 2010 she was nominated as Young Person of the Year and The Best Use of Technology at THe Future Award
- She won the Outstanding Contribution to Fashion Communication Award at African Fashion Week in 2010
- She won Online Publication of the Year at FAB Awards in 2012
- 2013 Business Protege Award at TW Magazine Phoenix Gala Awards
- Uche won Young Media Entrepreneur Award by The British Council and many other Awards
Uche Pedro Net Worth
- Uche Pedro earns huge revenue from Google Adsense, direct adverts, sponsored posts, and wedding features. She is one of the most Powerful Women in Africa with an estimated net worth of $4 million.
Social Media Handles
- Instagram: @uchepedro
- Twitter: @uchepedro
- Website: Bellanaija.com