Nigeria’s DJ Cuppy announces £100k support for African Oxford students

Nigerian music producer and performer, Florence Otedola, better known as DJ Cuppy, has gifted £100,000 ($125,000) to the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) to support African graduate students at the University of Oxford in the UK.

DJ Cuppy recently completed a master’s degree in African Studies at Oxford earlier this year, the university said in a statement Monday, adding that the Cuppy Fund would assist African postgraduate students “to meet unexpected and urgent financial needs and undertake activities that will ensure the pursuit of excellence in their graduate studies.”

The 30-year-old internationally successful DJ said she witnessed “variances in university life experiences” among African students studying at Oxford during her time at the university.

“The fundamental role that the Cuppy Fund will play is to narrow resource gaps for those who need it the most so they can fully commit to pursuing the education they deserve,” she said in the release.

Cuppy is the daughter of Femi Otedola, one of Nigeria’s wealthiest oil magnates. She has previously made philanthropic contributions to organizations advocating for child protection and education for girls, including people with disabilities.

DJ Cuppy is one of Africa’s best-known performers, who had fueled the rise of a new breed of highly successful female DJs from a male-dominated DJ scene in her home country. She has also performed internationally at the MTV Africa Music Awards.

In 2020, she presented Apple Music’s first radio show dedicated to the popular Afrobeats. Her debut album “Original Cuppy” released later that year, featured Grammy-winning singer Wyclef Jean and Julian Marley, son of Reggae legend Bob Marley.