Entertainment
‘I’m Now Grace-Charis Bassey, No Longer Bellinda Effah’
Award winning Nigeria actress and global brand, Belinda Effah on Monday 26th of April officially announced her name change in a press conference that took place at The Ethnic Hub.
The actress disclosed that her brother renamed her and her sisters because he felt they needed an English name.
She claimed that she bore the name without knowing it meant pretty serpent. Belinda explained that she researched about her name at a time when people started asking what her name meant.
Having discovered the meaning, she took steps to change her name 3 years ago but she backed out because she couldn’t withstand the tedious process.
According to her she had a divine encounter with God last year 15th of August to change her name.
“A couple of years ago I wanted to change my name when I found out that I could not really grasps the meaning of my name. Some people said it meant ‘beauty’ some other people said it meant ‘beautiful serpent’. So I was cut in between not knowing what the right meaning is. Linda seemed to have diverse meaning and I wasn’t quite comfortable with that.
“Also with the fact that Belinda was not the first name that my parents gave to me.
“My birth name is Uyu.
I came across Belinda in secondary school, one day my brother came up with the idea of changing my name and my sister’s name because we were all bearing native names. He came up with different names and asked us to pick. Funny enough I picked Melinda but I didn’t like the name because people started calling me Mirinda in school. So I decided to just go on with Belinda because they could not twist it to something funny like Mirinda.
“I should have known not to pick Belinda because my brother actually picked it for my sister but she said she wanted Fiona. She checked the meaning and it was cool and she went on with it. I didn’t check I just got carried away with Belinda because it sounded cool, it sounded hip, and that’s what I get all the time when people hear my name. they say oh, I like that name.”
“On the 15th of August 2020. I had a divine encounter with God to change my name to Grace.
“Nobody changed my name to Grace, God did.
So after my encounter with God, I called my parents and told them not to call me Belinda anymore, and my mom said wow… congratulations. The interesting part is that my mom said she named me Grace at birth.
“She said, she had a friend who bears Grace and she went through all the troubles with her during the Labour of my delivery. So she decided to honor her friend by naming me after her so she named me Grace. Since my father has the final say as to what name I bear, he insisted that I bear Uyu”.
Former Belinda adviced the world to bear names with good meaning as your name represents you.
“I believe that name should not be about how it sounds or how hip or cool it is but about the meaning, because name is about representation. When you are being identified by a name it represents you”.
Having narrated the aforesaid, she officially announced her new name and unveiled her new business name.
“So… dear world, ladies and gentlemen of the press, dear family and friends.
“I will like to be recognised and identified as Grace-Charis Bassey henceforth, and not as Belinda Effah anymore.
“I know it’s going to take a while for people to adopt to this, people may make mistakes and still call me Belinda. It’s ok, I’m giving you guys six months to get use to it.
“I’m Grace-Charis Bassey and I want to unveil my new logo for my business. From House Of Belinda to Grace-Charis Bassey empire. So this is my representation now. A couple of people have asked me what Charis means. Charis means Grace, so I’m double dose of grace,” she concluded.
Shakira has announced the official song for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, featuring Nigerian Grammy-winning star, Burna Boy.
The Colombian superstar revealed on social media that the song, titled “Dai Dai,” will be released on May 14.
“From Maracaná Stadium, here is ‘Dai Dai,’ the FIFA World Cup Official Song 2026. Coming 5/14. We’re ready!” Shakira posted on X alongside a teaser for the track.
The announcement has sparked excitement among football and music fans, especially with Burna Boy becoming one of the African artists to feature prominently on a World Cup anthem.
Shakira is no stranger to World Cup songs. Her 2010 hit Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) became one of the most iconic football anthems in history during the tournament in South Africa.
Recent World Cup theme songs have also featured global stars. In 2014, Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte performed We Are One (Ole Ola) for the tournament in Brazil.
For the 2018 tournament in Russia, Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi released Live It Up.
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA rolled out multiple soundtrack songs, including Hayya Hayya (Better Together) by Trinidad Cardona, Davido and Aisha.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This week, African Voices, the Globacom-sponsored magazine programme on CNN International, turns its searchlight on Ejatu Shaw the London-based photographer and multidisciplinary artist whose work continues to refract heritage into striking visual poetry.
Born in 1996, Shaw is a graduate of University of Westminster, where she earned a Master’s degree in Photography Arts in 2020. Yet the true genesis of her craft predates the academy. It was during a 2013 family sojourn to Sierra Leone that her creative awakening first flickered—like light finding its way through a narrow aperture—setting her on a path of introspective exploration.
Her oeuvre is a delicate tapestry, interweaving strands of Islamic faith with the vibrant textures of African heritage. Echoes of the great studio photographers of the 1960s and 1970s—such as Malick Sidibé, Sory Sanlé, and Omar Yahia Barram—resonate subtly within her compositions, like ancestral voices carried on a visual wind.
From these influences, Shaw has cultivated a practice rooted in memory and self-inquiry. Through self-portraiture and conceptually layered projects, she transforms personal recollections into images that speak with both intimacy and universality—mirrors in which the past and present quietly converge.
Her ascent has been both swift and assured. In 2025, the British Fashion Council named her a New Wave Creative, affirming her place among a new generation of cultural vanguards. In the same year, her lens captured figures of global renown, including Angela Bassett for EBONY, Cynthia Erivo for The Guardian, Sunday Times and Vogue, and Usain Bolt for Puma.
She also conceived and shot the album cover for Craig David—each frame a testament to her evolving visual language.
African Voices airs on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., with further broadcasts on Sunday at 3:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and repeat transmissions on Monday at 3:00 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.—an invitation to witness, through Shaw’s eyes, a world where identity is not fixed, but fluid, luminous, and ever unfolding.
Nigeria-born Afro-pop star, Joeboy, whose melodies now ripple across continents, takes centre stage this week on the Easter edition of African Voices, the Globacom-sponsored CNN magazine programme.
In a captivating session from Lagos, show anchor Larry Madowo drew out the rhythm of Joeboy’s journey, tracing the arc from a starry-eyed university dreamer to a maestro whose songs now traverse the globe like whispered secrets carried on the wind.
Born Joseph Akinwale Akinfenwa-Donus in 1997, Joeboy—affectionately dubbed Afrobeats’ “lover boy”—embarked on his musical odyssey in 2017 with a viral reinterpretation of Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You.
This pivot from rap to melodious crooning caught the discerning eye of Nigerian artiste and entrepreneur Mr Eazi, who, upon discovering him on Instagram, extended an invitation to join the emPawa Africa Talent Incubation initiative—a sanctuary for budding African talents where raw potential is nurtured into brilliance.
The partnership bore fruit in 2018 with the release of Fààjí, featuring Mr Eazi, and soon after, Joeboy was signed to Warner Music Africa. From there, his ascent became a symphony of milestones: the intoxicating single Baby in 2019, followed by Beginning, which amassed over 23 million views on YouTube, and Love & Light the same year.
Collaborations with Mayorkun yielded the spirited tracks Don’t Call Me and All for You, further cementing his place in the Afrobeats constellation.
Joeboy’s debut album, Somewhere Between Beauty & Magic, unfurled in February 2021, a melodic tapestry of youth, hope, and desire. By 19 May 2023, he unveiled his sophomore studio effort, Body & Soul, preceded by the evocative singles Sip (Alcohol), Contour, Body & Soul, and Duffel Bag. In 2023, he teased the world with Only God Save Me and the extended EP Body, Soul and Spirit, offering listeners a window into the essence of his artistic spirit.
February 2024 marked another milestone as he launched his own imprint, Young Legend, soon releasing Osadebe, a track that resonated nationwide with the familiar warmth of homegrown brilliance.
Joeboy’s dedication has been richly rewarded. He clinched Best Artiste in African Pop at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards and Best Pop at the 2020 Soundcity MVP Awards Festival. His music has earned numerous nominations, including at the City People Entertainment Awards and The Headies, affirming his status as a luminary of contemporary African sound.
The Easter edition of African Voices featuring Joeboy will air on DSTV Channel 401 at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, with repeats at 11 a.m.; Sunday at 3:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Monday at 3 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.; and Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. The schedule will be mirrored the following week, culminating in Monday at 3 a.m., giving audiences multiple opportunities to bask in the artistry of a musician whose voice carries the pulse of a continent.
