Arit Okpo, seasoned Nigerian TV presenter and producer, has been announced the new host of CNN’s African Voices. The announcement was made by CNN Africa’s official Twitter handle and was confirmed by Arit Okpo on the 8th of August.
African Voices by CNN is a continental show sponsored by Globacom that highlights and celebrates Africa’s most exceptional leaders inspiring innovation and change in areas such as travel, fashion, art, music, technology and architecture. The show has been airing for a decade on CNN; in a press release on the media channel’s network, it explained that the show will be entering a new era. A part of the statement reads:
“Experienced Nigerian TV presenter, Arit Okpo, is the new host of the show and will lead the programme with a fresh direction to focus on changemakers across Africa. Okpo has an excellent track record, having produced and presented content for EbonyLife TV and hosting the web talk show Untold Facts, produced by The Initiative for Equal Rights. As host of African Voices Changemakers, she will meet entertainers, creatives, athletes and members of the public who are trying to make a difference, finding ways to impact their communities and making cultural contributions.”
Arit Okpo at a glance is a lovable television host and media personality. A woman well known for her time producing and presenting content for EbonyLifeTV, most especially for her time spent as the host and face of EbonyLifeTV’s show The Crunch. But there’s more to Arit behind the cameras and lights. Her time on The Crunch, for example, was Arit Okpo’s first real experience with presenting. Arit was still a school administrator planning to become a consultant when an unexpected phone call from Mo Abudu launched her career in media.
Whenever she is asked what her plans for life were before she became a media personality, Arit likes to say that she never thought she would end up in front of the camera. She claims she always imagined herself working behind the scenes. But ever since Mo Abudu thrust her into the spotlight, Arit has shown a natural and very real talent for holding an audience. Arit Okpo has become a formidable event hostess, a compelling current affairs correspondent, an experienced panel moderator, and an earnest media activist for LGBT rights.
She anchored the Nigerian Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders by Future Project in 2017, served on the CNN production crew that supported Richard Quest’s visit to Nigeria, and has travelled to many different countries promoting tourism in Africa. She currently hosts the web talk show Untold Facts, a show that explores the LGBT community in relation to the law, media, tradition and culture, produced by The Initiative for Equal Rights. When I reached out to Arit Okpo on Twitter to ask if she would continue to host Untold Facts now that she is host of CNN’s African Voices, Arit confirmed that she will remain the host of the web talk show. She’s very excited about the new season of Untold Facts. According to her, it’s going to be lit!
References:
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CNN
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Featured Image Source: BellaNaija