Events
We Had a Swell Time in 2023! Thank You, BellaNaijarians, For Being a Part of Our Year
Dear BellaNaijarians, it feels good to write to you again about our year. Wasn’t it just some weeks ago we shared our 2022 successes with you? And here we are again, telling you all about our 2023.
At BellaNaija, we decided at the beginning of the year to record successes that transcend borders and continents. From Italy to New York, Rwanda, South Africa to Qatar, and many more – we travelled countries, bringing you inspiring stories of people and places, capturing moments, and amplifying the best of Africa.
We can also say 2023 has been an amazing year for Africans, particularly for creatives and creators. From music to fashion, movies, film, sports, to the literary community and many other sectors, we saw Nigerians smash glass ceiling. We witnessed creativity and innovation like never before. We saw Africans breaking world records and making history. We also bore witness to the daily little activities that brought us joy. Like beautiful weddings, people falling in love, vloggers documenting their lifestyle, people participating in a social media challenge. Sweet moments between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters. The akara seller who sent his children to the university. The laughter we shared at mundane things. The mistakes we made and learned from. Times it seemed things were spiralling out of control. Times we felt in charge. Moments that made us pause and soak it all in. We captured it all, and you, BellaNaijarians, have been with us every step of the way.
We are proud to have witnessed and contributed to the growth of these industries, and to have told stories that form us as a people, a country and continent. All through the year, we utilised our resources to promote African creatives and values. Our team exceeded expectation in many ways than one and we are super proud of our individual and collective successes. That is why, again, we are inviting you to share in our notable wins, our joy, our success stories and major highlights in the year 2023.
Our wins
- Uche spoke at the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 Summit Africa
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- Uche was one of the stakeholders who spoke at the Art of Technology 5.0 conference
- Mary attended the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 Summit in Gaborone, Botswana
- Uche was shortlisted by the World Economic Forum as one of the Young Global Leaders class of 2023.
- In April, Dami travelled to Stellenbosch, South Africa, for the African premiere of Netflix and Shondaland’s series “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”.
- Mary spoke at the HerVest Value Up 2023 – Unleash Your Potential.
- A story by Jacqueline Muchazoreka from the Bird Agency and published on BellaNaija won the Open Knowledge Journalism Award.
- Uche was named one of the Choiseul 100 Africa Economy Leaders of Tomorrow 2023.
- Oluwadunsin was one of the journalists selected for the sixth cohort of the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program (EJCP) at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
- Dami represented BN at the W.Tec (Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre) SheCreates Camp.
- Layomi successfully covered an international event in South Africa as part of the #SATourism campaign.
- Mary was a part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Summer Boost Program 2023
- Motunde Attended the AWCAA Ladies First Brunch in Maryland, USA, An event to celebrate cancer survivors and create more awareness about the disease
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Mary was shortlisted for Advertising Week Africa’s The Future is Female Awards 2023.
- In March, Dami travelled to Pretoria, South Africa for the Forbes Woman Africa’s Leading Women Summit 2023.
- IK represented BellaNaija at the 2023 edition of ADICOM DAYS in Paris where he spoke on the influencer ecosystem in Nigeria and how stakeholders make money.
- Motunde represented BN at the Cosmoprof beauty exhibition in Italy and did an Amsterdam – Italy – France experiential trip
- IK was part of the 2023 cohort for the Engagement Boost program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism (The City University of New York).
- Mary hosted the 2nd edition of BellaNaija Cocktails and Conversations at the Africa Soft Power Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
- Sandra embarked on a 3-day exploration of Rome, Italy.
Causes Actively Supported
- In February, we successfully launched and completed the Women in Politics and Governance campaign that explores and fosters women’s active participation in politics and governance, in partnership with United Nations Women and the Government of Canada.
- BellaNaija supported Ajesola Solarin Majekodunmi Foundation (ASMAF), a nonprofit organisation that supports young Nigerian females with skills and scholarship programmes.
- We supported Human Development Initiatives who work with more than 40 widows groups, providing emotional, financial, medical, and communal support for them.
- We sponsored the Borehole project for the people of Akodo-Ise community.
- BellaNaija Style advanced their cause towards SDG 11&12, educating our audience about sustainability and conscious consumption through our publications, partnerships and digital summit.
- We successfully deployed more inclusion and diversity tactics fostering better media attention on the under-represented, while also supporting gender-focused empowerment initiatives towards reduced inequality (in pursuit of SDG 5 and 10).
Editorial
If you’ve been enjoying our coverage of news and entertaining stories, there’s one team responsible for that: Editorial!
- The Editorial Team, alongside supporters from other teams successfully covered two editions of the Big Brother show – Big Brother Titans and Big Brother Naija All-Stars.
- We hosted two events at the 2023 edition of AfricaNXT – The Role of Creative Media in Advancing Africa’s Creative Industry and Book Reading from Mfonobong Inyang‘s “Lazy Nigerian Youths”.
- The team also introduced 2 new shows – #TheDip and #TikTALKIn60 – that have garnered more than 2 million views across platforms to date.
- Dami interviewed the cast of the Prime video series “Harlem,” including Meagan Good, Jerrie Johnson, Grace Byers, Shoniqua Shandai, and the writer/executive producer, Tracy Oliver. And also spoke with Derby Chukwudi Miss New Jersey USA 2023.
- IK covered the Big Brother Titans grand finale in Johannesburg, capturing multiple viral moments from one of the biggest reality TV shows on the continent.
- In its 3 years, Dami continued the Meet The Star series which is a series dedicated to spotlighting emerging talents in Nollywood.
- Major shout-out to our social media boss, Lilian, for boosting our Instagram presence this year. You rock!
BN Features
The features wrote a lot of important and amazing essays this year. But what’s even better is the engaging series we worked on.
Doing Life With…
We launched a new series titled “Doing Life With…” where we captured stories of everyday people. This year, we were able to feature people from 4 African countries.
BN Campus Series
We introduced the BN Campus Series, where Nigerian students shared their campus stories revolving around different issues such as academics, friendship, mental health and others. Shout-out to Ahmad and Kwubei for holding the fort.
Valentine Series Campaign
We had our Valentine’s series campaign where people were invited to lovers to share their love journeys and stories, in partnership with Hingees.
Work & Life in Italy
We had a collaboration with Imo Ekanem to launch the “Work & Life in Italy,” a series that explores the journey of African fashion professionals in Italy.
BN Ever After
BellaNaija Weddings and Features had another season of The Ever After Series.
- We created articles and interviews around specific days such as International Women’s Day, International Men’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas and others.
- Oluwadunsin had a conversation with Beautiful Nubia for BN Creatives’ Corner
BN Epilogues
Every year, BN Epilogues gives BellaNaijarians the chance to be a part of our year by sharing their wins, losses, joys, pains, successes and everything in between with us. Missed this year’s? Read them here.
Our Amazing Contributors
A major shout-out to our amazing contributors. Thank you for being a part of our 2023. We cannot wait to read from you come 2024.
BN Weddings
Someone once said, “BellaNaija Weddings, press our necks with love” and they did just that this year! Shout-out to Osas and Rebekah for the love stories that warmed our hearts in 2023.
- Osas represented BNW at the Annual Destination Wedding Planners Congress in Qatar.
- In July, Osas had a speaking engagement at the EATOW conference, in the representation of the BNW team, where she spoke about “The Business of Bridal”
- The BNW team, in collaboration with the Editorial team, covered the #ANIIKE2023 vow renewal.
- The BNW team in collaboration with the Editorial team covered the wedding of Inedoye and Made Kuti, Fela’s grandson which had a combined view of over 20,000,000 (twenty million) on Instagram timelines
- The BNW team successfully launched a new series titled, The Fun Thing About Love, which was launched in February and has aired about 10 episodes so far, reaching an average of 1 million reach.
- The team successfully introduced an Instagram Stories plan for interaction with our audience.
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- The BNW team delivered virtual coverage for #MeetTheOscars Destination White Wedding.
- Rebekah successfully covered some celebrity wedding blitz such as Simi Drey and Julian’s White and Traditional Wedding Sunmisola Agbebi and Yinka’s Wedding, Celebrity Wedding Planner, Titilope and her husband, Hafeez’ wedding.
The Money-Making Team
The BN Team has been amazing. Major shout-out to partnerships, ads, operations and HR – they are the real MVPs. We got back-to-back partnerships, all thanks to Motunde, who also led the BBNaija and BBTitans partnerships which brought about over 100% revenue increase.
From running campaigns to live and virtual coverages, and managing clients, Rashidat, Layomi, Collette, Onyinye, Allen and Damilola kept it together in the business department. The Ads team successfully introduced the new rate card to clients, featuring new packages like the Late Night Coverage. We teamed up with clients, including notable ones such as RB-PR, X3MIDEAS, Redrick PR, and Teksightedge, for several bulk buy deals, making a good amount of revenue. Rashidat reviewed ad policies, optimized procedures and boosted client retention. Collette, Layomi, Onyinye, and Dami all actively participated in numerous coverages, throwing their weights behind BellaNaija Style and Editorial during physical and virtual events.
Motunde cajoled us into coverages. Scratch that! Her coverage training program was a major hit! We also welcomed many new clients this year and retained old clients. Thank you for working with us and shout-out to the BN money-making team.
BN Style
Kudos to the BN Style team on becoming more metric-sensitive and data-driven. Our brand has evolved into a more conversational and relatable one, resulting in improved audience engagement.
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- We formed new friendships, debuted new faces from the international pool of African Talents, given #InternationalBella and further expanded our frontiers beyond Nigeria.
- BellaNaija Style played a prominent role in covering ARISE Fashion Week 2023.
- We put the spotlight on amazing African Talents (in the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle spaces) at home and in the diaspora, amplifying their good work.
- BellaNaija Style commenced its real-time coverage on @bellanaijastyle, embarking on an exciting partnership with the Uncover beauty brand.
- Sandra Omoregie interviewed quite several stars, including Veronica Ebie & Odio Mimonet on Vane Style’s ‘Ready For Retail’ Initiative, Swazzi, the Fashion Stylist Behind Top Music Videos, Reni Abina and many more.
- Arise Fashion Week: BellaNaija Style covered Arise Fashion Week 2023, providing one of the most comprehensive reports on the event, generating over 3 million Instagram impressions.
- BNS Women’s Month: The team had a successful women’s month this March.
- Sandra Omoregie led the coverage of GTCO Fashion Weekend 2023, delivering one of the most comprehensive reports on the event with over 5 million Instagram impressions.
- BN Style had collaborations with BN Editorial for AMVCA 2023, Real Warri Pikin’s vow renewal, and launched its “BellaNaija Beauty: A Better You” series towards the improved health and overall well-being of our audience (in pursuit of SDG 1).
- BN Style started Behind-The-Scenes With BNS showing the painstaking details/process behind viral glitz and glam moments to inspire creatives and encourage better appreciation from the audience.
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- BN Style hosted the 4th Annual BNS Digital Summit, and unveiled a stellar on-site event in collaboration with all BN teams and, in partnership with Ecobank Nigeria.
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HR & Operations
How can we forget our ogas at the top – Pamela, Dorcas and Rashidat? From ensuring we get paid on time to the brilliant weekly memo, to ensuring team members are comfortable and making sure internal and external operations run smoothly – you all are the best!
Social Media
- BellaNaija Style has grown from 550,000 to over 609,000 followers on Instagram.
- BellaNaija Beauty has grown from 80,000 to over 110,000 followers on Instagram.
- BellaNaija Style attained 51.2k followers on Threads, and BellaNaija Beauty attained 9,904k.
- BellaNaija Style has witnessed impressive growth, with our Instagram following soaring from 550,000 to over 609,000. Likewise, BellaNaija Beauty has experienced significant expansion, reaching a milestone of over 114,000 followers from 80,000.
- BN Weddings Instagram grew from 4.5 million to 4.7 million followers, and reaching a new record of an average of 9, 000, 000 (nine million) reach per month on Instagram.
- BN Weddings Twitter grew from 40k to 48.7 thousand followers
The BN Team
Without a doubt, team BN is composed of highly talented and exceptionally brilliant folks!
Uche
Our theme at BellaNaija for 2023 was #InternationalBella and we did that and more!
I am immensely proud of everyone on our team. From Kigali to Rome to New York and beyond, we delivered on the mission to represent and promote African excellence.
I’m hopeful about 2024 and especially praying for peace around Africa and across the world.
Mary
The team’s excellence and innovation in 2023 have set the stage for an even brighter 2024. Thank you BNers, BellaStylistas, Partners, and our amazing community. Let’s continue our journey of breaking boundaries and creating impact together. Go Team BN!
IK
2023 was a good year. A lot of remarkable moments personally and professionally. My bond with my friends got stronger. I went back to school twice; bagged a masters degree one of those times. Got my “Aguero moment” as well. I’m super grateful for this year. 2024? It’s looking good already. I can’t wait to bask in all the goodness it’ll bring.
Pamela
2023 started with high expectations and an almost unrealistic vision board, and it truly lived up to them. I seized the day and was exposed to new opportunities and responsibilities both professionally and personally, which resulted in growth in various aspects of my life. As I look ahead to 2024, I am excited to continue on this personal journey and take on even more challenges and opportunities, continuing to seize the day and make the most of every moment… Indeed carpe diem – you only live once, seize every opportunity that comes your way, you can only be better for it.
Dorcas
Expressing gratitude for the growth and love I encountered in 2023 I can affirm that I expanded, forged new connections, and embraced stepping out of my comfort zone. Despite facing setbacks and making wrong decisions, I appreciate the opportunities for growth in my career and other areas. So, that’s a win for me. Moving into 2024 marks a new phase and chapter in my life, and I’m eager to discover what it has in store. Affirming a sweet year ahead.✌️
Lade
This has been an amazing year of tremendous impact and growth with a lot of impressive measurable outcomes to show for it. I am so happy to see the positive impact my work has had on society and the goals of my team. Though the year started gloomy for me, with a lot of new challenges and a remarkable depletion in my arsenal, I plunged forward in faith with a clear vision & the support of our amazing BN Management and HR teams, I now say with hearty cheers that I have had a VERY successful year. 2023 was a pre-planting season and one thing is certain, pre-planting was very successful. One can only imagine the exploits to come. Stay tuned.
Sandra
In the journey through 2022, with its mix of challenges and triumphs, I rediscovered that dreams can materialize even amidst doubt, fear, and unpredictability. They might not unfold precisely as imagined, but they do come to fruition. As I set my sights on 2024, I’m not just dreaming; I’m actively pursuing my aspirations. I’m shedding the layers of fear, doubt, and uncertainties and plunging headfirst into the pursuit. Whether the outcome is successful or not, I can confidently say I took the initiative and made it happen!
Ahmad
It’s been said that it takes a village to raise a child. 2023 was a struggle for survival but I am grateful to the amazing team I work with who made me realise that a thing for one is a thing for all. We go again with the full knowledge that it won’t be easy. But life isn’t easy and that’s why it’s interesting.
Damilola
2023 was a nonstop fiesta of unforgettable moments. From the glitz and glamour of the Queen Charlotte premiere to the heartwarming moments at Made and Inedoye’s wedding, it’s been a year of adventures, and excitement. Like a fearless Barbie, I’ve embraced the spirit of “doing it afraid,” tackling challenges head-on and conquering my fears. Sure, there were a few bumps along the way, but this Barbie always bounces back, bigger and better than ever (BBB, indeed!). Dami, girl, you did it! You slayed 2023, and now, 2024, get ready for a whirlwind of awesomeness, because this Barbie is coming at you with all guns blazing!
Oke
2023 was a year I pushed myself. I set out a few goals and smashed them. I just want to thank god for 2023; it was a good year.
rooting for 2024! It is going to be an international year for me and a bomb!
Dami
2023 will be etched in my heart for a lifetime! It was a beautiful ride through and through. Grateful for all the beautiful ways I evolved! Thrilled for the exciting adventures ahead.
Osas
2023 has been a year of discovery. All the blessings and disappointments, the little wins and rejections, have worked together to give me a clarity of vision and purpose. I’m truly grateful for this year and fully ready to take on 2024.
Rebekah
2023, thank you for all that you were. A blessing, a lesson, you were a beautiful season of growth.
Proud of all I’ve achieved and grateful to this amazing team that keeps pushing me to be the best version of myself.
You did it, Rebekah! Here’s to a super duper 2024 🥳
Allen
Living through 2023 has been a real rollercoaster – plenty of highs, and a few lows, but honestly, more highs, which is great. Each twist and turn became an opportunity for growth, and I’ve surprised myself with the progress made. Taking in feedback, making those necessary tweaks, and navigating the unexpected bumps in the road have been essential this year. I find myself not just grateful for what has been but genuinely optimistic about what lies ahead, because, well, it seems like it’s only going to keep getting better.
Collette
Embarking on the journey of 2023, I faced uncertainties, but the year unfolded with valuable lessons and accomplishments. From strategic initiatives, and leadership roles, to active involvement in impactful campaigns and events, I have embraced diverse challenges. The experiences enhanced my adaptability, leadership, and client relationship skills. In 2024, I eagerly anticipate building on this foundation and contributing to BN’s growth while fostering a fulfilling work-life balance.
Rashidat
2023 is the year that tested my patience and challenged my intensity, however regardless the intensity of the furnace, I came out even shinier than gold: After the storm the sun will smile 😊
Motunde
The only and best way is forward.
Onyinye
The beauty is in the journey and not the destination. 2023 was an awesome year, 2024 is definitely going to be even better!
Oluwadunsin
I’m struggling to put 2023 into words but it’s been my best year yet. It’s been another year of telling beautiful stories and all-around progress. Thank you to everyone at BellaNaija for such a beautiful year. Let’s do this again in 2024.
Layomi
2023 has changed almost everything I know. It’s been a process, and my biggest lesson is ‘I cannot do it on my own.’ And if you know, you know it’s a tough lesson. 😅
Kwubei
In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
Looking Forward to 2024.🦾
Thank you, BellaNaijarians for being a part of the BellaNaija 2023 story. Thank you for following, engaging and sticking with us. We are because you are.
Here’s to a better 2024!
