Omotola Jalade Ekeinde talks to TIME magazine about influence, activism and Africa

TIME Magazine called her “Queen of Nollywood”.  Omotola Jalade Ekeinde is undeniably at the pinnacle of success and has given a face to the Nigeria film industry known as “Nollywood”. The award winning actress has done over 300 feature films. She sits down with TIME to reflect and further discuss how she uses her influence to give a voice to the voiceless and empower the youth.

 Married with four children, wife, mother, actress and activist Omotola captured the attention of the West when she became one of  2013 Time 100 most influential people in the world honoree.
During the gala, she was surprised to find that leading film and television icons like Stephen Spielberg, Daniel Day Lewis and Shonda Rhimes were completely unaware of Nollywood’s existence until Omotola was honored.

In 2013, Nollywood has generated major International curiosity and In her own words “I am so excited about the new found global interest in Nollywood, I hope to attract enough interest for the world to come and see what and how Nollywood has been able to sustain itself Independently for 20 years.

The phenomenon is indicative of the fact that Africa is a place of many talents and resources. I am humbled by theTIME 100 platform which has enabled me to reach a larger audience. Africa needs to be thought of as a new frontier with infinite business possibilities”.