Until recently, the queen of endorsements used to be Funke Akindele, the one everybody calls Jenifa. But things have changed and two of Nigeria’s leading ladies are left vying for the title. Presently, Genevieve Nnaji tops the table, while Tiwa Savage trails closely behind in terms of how much their individual endorsements are worth.
There is war out there between the two. Nnaji is known in Nollywood while Savage makes wave in music.They have notched up more endorsements than their contemporaries in recent times. It would seem that all the companies that have money to spend are dying to have Genevieve or Tiwa sign the dotted lines with them.
Genevieve, born May 3, 1979, tried her hands on music at a time. Although she got a couple of people singing along, that foray could not be sustained. In 2005, she won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) and has continued to win the hearts of Nigerians ever since. She has featured in commercials like that of Pronto beverage, Omo detergent, but the biggest endorsement she got was the Face of Lux soap, Nigeria, in 2004 for which she got a mouthwatering payment.
Genevieve began her walk down the endorsement road at that point. She was Face of MUD Nigeria in 2010, but the floodgate of endorsement deals for the actress many call Gene were thrown wide open late last year and early this year. For instance, she got a Range Rover deal worth a whopping $100,000. She also got to drive a brand new Range Rover Evogue for six months before she returned it to Choscharis Motors. That deal was followed by the POLO, one that got her smiling to the bank with N70 million on the heels of which quickly came an Etisalat EasyFlex deal worth another mouthwatering N100 million.
The actress had barely caught her breath when the Amstel Malta endorsement deal came knocking. No one is willing to disclose how much this particular one is worth, but those who should know say that it is valued at more than double all the other ones put together. She is sharing the spotlight with Nigerian international, Jon Obi Mikel, on this deal. No wonder then that when she attended the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last year, one of the bags she carried her personal effects in was said to be worth millions of naira.
Tiwatope Savage was born on February 5, a year after Genevieve. Tiwa had even tweeted her thanks to God with the popular ‘I don port oh’ line made popular by Saka.
But before that, there was the Pepsi deal that made her face of the beverage in Africa. That deal only just got renewed when she released her first album. As a matter of fact, the renewal announcement was made at the exclusive listening party for her album at Wheatbaker Hotel in Lagos. She got the deal for a year, even while she was yet to release an album, and got an additional two years with the renewal.
Tiwa just featured in a remake of an African Petroleum (AP) oil and gas company, now Forte Oil, television commercial andtook home a massive endorsement deal. The deal was signed on this year’sValentine’s Day.
Described as Marvin Record’s first lady, Tiwa is a singer-songwriter, recording artiste and performer. She is currently signed to Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Mavin Records.