DJ Cuppy, born Florence Otedola, revealed in a new interview with Marie Claire Nigeria that her foundation has raised over $17 million for displaced children since 2018.
The Cuppy Foundation holds the record as the largest single funder of Save the Children’s work on the African continent. In the past year, its partnership with Save the Children reached nearly 2,900 pupils across Katsina and Adamawa states.
The 33-year-old philanthropist explained the difference between charity and philanthropy during the interview. “Charity is just giving because you want to,” she said. “Being a philanthropist, though, is about making a lasting difference. It’s about long-lasting results.”
She said her approach to giving was shaped by a visit to a community in crisis. “You can’t give a sick child a book,” she said. “You’ve got to deal with the humanitarian crisis.”
The foundation also runs the Cuppy Africa Hardship Fund, which has supported more than 30 African scholars at Oxford and NYU who were at risk of dropping out due to financial hardship. The fund covers research costs, living expenses, and family emergencies, with priority given to students in music business programs.
Cuppy linked her philanthropy directly to her own upbringing as the daughter of businessman Femi Otedola. “There would be no Cuppy if no one helped Cuppy,” she said. “If no one enabled Cuppy, I would not be here today. If my privilege ends with me, what is the point of it?”
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Earlier last year, the Gates Foundation named Cuppy one of its 2025 Goalkeepers for advocacy tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on quality education and gender equality. She marked the honour by DJing at the foundation’s Seattle headquarters for Africa Day.
She also sat on the Distinguished Judges Panel for the UN’s 2025 Class of Young SDG Leaders and performed a DJ set at a Commonwealth reception welcoming Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey as the organization’s first female Secretary-General.
