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Nigerian Media Mogul Named Among Financial Times’ Top 100 Global Female Executives

Nigerian Media Mogul Named Among Financial Times’ Top 100 Global Female Executives

 

Nigerian media mogul Biola Alabi, chief executive officer and managing partner of Biola Alabi Media, has been named among the top 100 female executives in the world by the Financial Times.

The entrepreneur was the only Nigerian-based executive to feature on the FT & HERoes 100 Female Executives list for 2018, according to the Financial Times.

The list has been compiled to recognize senior female role models who have helped to increase gender diversity in the workplace, and Alabi in particular has been noted for her tireless commitment to gender diversity and inclusion of women in the African workplace.

The annual list celebrates women who are actively playing their part to increase gender diversity and support the increase of women in senior business roles.

Featuring at 98 on the list, Alabi is in influential company alongside powerful executives including Emma Codd, managing partner for talent at Deloitte, Anna Purchas, partner and head of people at KPMG, Charlotte Hogg, chief executive for Europe at Visa, Harriet Green, chief executive and chairman for IBM Asia Pacific, and Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive of Virgin Money, according to FT.

Nigerian media mogul
Nigerian media mogul Biola Alabi is the chief executive officer of Biola Alabi Media. Photo – Biola Alabi Media

Supporting and empowering women in the workplace has been a strong trend throughout Alabi’s career, and continues to be a priority.

Her consultancy company has an all-female leadership team, and a staff complement of over 75 percent female employees. She is the founder of Grooming for Greatness, a leadership development and mentorship program designed to develop a new generation of African leaders, with a minimum of 70 percent female intake.

Currently a non-executive board member of Unilever Nigeria, and a member of the advisory board of the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Alabi was managing director for M-Net Africa for over five years where she led an 80 percent female executive team before trying her hand at entrepreneurship.

Nigerian media mogul no stranger to leadership roles

Leveraging her business and entertainment background, she launched Biola Alabi Media, a fast-growing media company dedicated to telling authentic African stories to the world.

She also became involved in movie production. Her successful track record includes executive producer credits on two of Nigerian film industry Nollywood’s biggest recent hits, ‘Lara and the Beat’ in 2018 and ‘Banana Island Ghost’ in 2017.  She is also the executive producer of Nigeria’s most popular food travel documentary-series, ‘Bukas and Joints‘, which airs across Africa and in the U.S.

Alabi is no stranger to global leadership roles or accolades recognizing her ability as an entrepreneur and executive.

She is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader as well as a Yale Greenberg World Fellow, Guardian reports. In 2010 her media credentials saw her serve as a member of the World Economic Forum’s global agenda council on the future of entertainment.

She was named one of the 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa by Forbes Africa in 2012, and the 2013 AABLA West African Business Woman of the Year, according to Bizcommunity.