Bukky Asehinde is passionate about helping African creative entrepreneurs thrive on the global stage. As the founder of Bellafricana, she has built a community that supports and showcases the best of African creativity. From digital marketing to community management and event curation, her focus is on creating opportunities for creatives in the fashion, art, beauty and lifestyle industries to grow their businesses and connect with new markets.
Bellafricana is a tech-enabled community that provides a platform for creative entrepreneurs in the fashion, craft and beauty industry, to enable them gain visibility, increase sales, have the right business support and structure that gives them the capacity to grow their businesses.
Her company has grown the Bellafricana community to over 20,000 members across 15 countries, launched an eCommerce marketplace to boost exports of handmade products, and secured over £150,000 in sponsorship to support creatives. This also attracted sales from multiple countries boosting export of finished handmade products in Nigeria. This resulted in the Nigerian Export Promotion Council endorsing her as a Zero-Oil Export Ambassador.
Also, events like The African Lifestyle Experience (TALES) and the African Creative Exhibition (ACE) Awards have helped her company spotlight incredible talents and build lasting partnerships. ACE positioned the company as a leader in the creative handmade sector and generated over £65,000 in sponsorship from strategic partners such as FMCG, Bank of Industry, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund and other banks. The awards achieved a minimum of 12,000 attendees for 3 event editions through analysis of business marketing mix.
Bukky’s expertise came to the fore as she developed strategies and led the marketing team to increase event website traffic and engagement by 250% using a viral social growth technique.
In addition, she partnered with 100+ top industry event vendors and negotiated the best prices which resulted in an estimated 40% cost reduction as compared to event budget.
Bukky Asehinde’s responsibilities as CEO also includes product improvement and implementation. In the early stages of Bellafricana, she took an active role in forming the team, growing the MVP, defining specifications, and bringing the product to life.
Beyond Bellafricana, Bukky loves mentoring upcoming entrepreneurs, helping them navigate challenges and achieve their business goals. Furthermore, she also collaborates with the Digital Marketing Skill Institute (DMSI) to empower creatives with essential digital marketing skills.
Bukky’s goal is simple. It is to see African creativity recognised and celebrated globally.
