Florence I. 'Cuppy' Otedola, an internationally successful DJ and music producer who recently completed her graduate studies at Oxford, has announced a gift of £100,000 to the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) to support African graduate students.
Cuppy studied at Oxford between 2021 and 2022, successfully undertaking an MSc in African Studies. She is one of Africa's foremost DJs and has performed internationally, including at the MTV Africa Music Awards. DJ Cuppy’s philanthropic endeavours include supporting a range of organisations tackling critical issues such as child protection and education for girls and persons with disabilities.
The Cuppy Africa Oxford Scholars Fund aims to support future leaders from the continent by enabling them to access the necessary skills, resources and networks to maximise their impact across Africa and beyond. It will support African graduate students at the University to meet unexpected and urgent financial needs and undertake activities that will ensure the pursuit of excellence in their graduate studies.
Cuppy said: ‘I am so proud of this partnership that not only extends my relationship with Oxford University but empowers future generations to come. Having just graduated with a MSc degree in African Studies myself, I saw first-hand the variances in university life experiences for students originating from my continent, Africa. 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. The opportunity to study at Oxford is an accomplishment but one fully realised when you are able to complete your course.’
AfOx is a cross-University platform with the vision to make engagement with Africa a strategic priority for Oxford. A core focus of the initiative is to increase the number of African students pursuing postgraduate degrees at Oxford and ensure that they can thrive and excel before, during and after their time here.
The new Cuppy Africa Oxford Scholars Fund will offer additional support to the African Graduate Thrive Fund and enable AfOx to meet the needs of the most vulnerable students, including those with any form of disability and students with caring responsibilities.
Dr Anne Makena, Co-Director of AfOx, University of Oxford, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted that Cuppy is so generously supporting African graduate students here at Oxford. We both share the experience of being African graduate students at Oxford and it is a great honour for AfOx to partner with Cuppy to address some of the unique challenges that African students might encounter during their time in Oxford. The Cuppy Africa Oxford Scholars Fund will help to ensure that they have access to the best possible support to navigate and succeed at Oxford, and continue on to remarkable careers as champions of development in African countries and globally.’