In August, Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, a chirpy 23-year-old Nigerian disc jockey who goes by the moniker ‘DJ Cuppy’, embarked on an eight-city tour across Africa.
DJ Cuppy has earned the requisite stripes to bestow such advice, if for no
other reason than the fact that she is excelling at what has historically been a male-dominated craft. In less than 3 years since launching herself into Nigeria’s entertainment scene, Otedola has become one of Nigeria’s most recognizable entertainers, with a slew of high profile performances to boot. She was the official DJ for the 2014 Financial Times Summit and
MTV Africa Music Awards. In May 2015, she served as the official disc jockey during the inauguration dinner of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ifeoluwa Otedola is the daughter of Nigerian oil billionaire Femi Otedola (currently worth $1.6 billion), but don’t hold that against her. She is obstinate in her resolve to build her own fortune in the music business.
DJ Cuppy is a just one of Africa’s children of wealth who are defying the stereotype of the entitled brat thanks to achievements in business and the arts. With all the money in the world at their feet, you could be forgiven
for thinking the offspring of Africa’s richest people would spend their days
lazing around, shopping, and partying their lives away.
But not these folks.
These young offspring of fabulously wealthy African parents are distinguishing themselves by demonstrating the same doggedness and risk-taking that has made their parents the most successful people on the continent. While most of them are corporate horses building their own legacies in corporations their parents have established, others are entrepreneurs who have decided to strike out on their own and write their
own destinies.
Rajiv Ruparelia, Uganda
Director at Ruparelia Group
Rajiv Ruparelia, 25, is the only son of Sudhir Ruparelia, Uganda’s richest man. He holds a degree in banking and finance from Regents University London. The younger Ruparelia now calls the shots at the Ruparelia Group, the Ugandan conglomerate his father founded, which has interests in hotels, banking, agriculture and education. Sudhir Ruparelia made his son learn the ropes ofbusiness many years ago by employing him first as a porter, then
as a construction worker, then as a bank teller, before moving him
up the ladder and giving him managerial positions in the group. “I wanted him to learn humility and to understand the various businesses at the most basic level,” Sudhir Ruparelia told this reporter. Rajiv, a popular socialite in Kampala who is trying to shed his party boy image, heads strategy at the Ruparelia Group and helps negotiate large-ticket deals on his father’s behalf internationally.
Jide Adenuga, Nigeria
Alcohol entrepreneur
Jide Adenuga, 33, the eldest son of Mike Adenuga, Nigeria’s second richest man, previously served as a director in his father’s oil distribution company Conoil PLC, but struck out on his own a few years ago to seek his fortune in the alcohol business. He is the founder and CEO of 3 Inclusive Ltd, a company that is the exclusive importer and distributor of Montaudon champagne in Nigeria.
Source: Read the rest of this article on Forbes By Mfonobong Nsehe
