Arrey Bate Arrey is also known as Arreyb is a Cameroonian internet entrepreneur, journalist, and author, a 2019 British Council top 100 young journalists worldwide, GLC2021 member, and winner of the 2021 Oxford University’s Global Leadership Challenge.
He is a respected, highly regarded social media expert whose passion is to help entrepreneurs and career starters build themselves and their businesses through his journey and inspiring stories. Arrey himself has a popular story for dropping out of the University and moving from an $18 feeding allowance to begin ARREYB Media from his student room with a phone and laptop his elder brother gifted him.
By the time he graduated in 2019, Arrey had been listed among British Council’s top 100 young journalists worldwide, built an internet business, founded the AB Afrikpreneur community for entrepreneurs and career starters, invited and interviewed live at the BBC, nominated at InfinityBA USA and had succeeded to make the record of his school mates coming to intern at ARREYB Media (while he was still a student).
Arrey has been featured on Fox, NBC, and CBS. His events, conferences, and writings including his best-selling internet book ‘How To Make Money Build Right Relationships With Social Media’ provide people of all professional backgrounds with the practical tools necessary to build their own knowledge around social media, entrepreneurship, and personal development.
Arrey Bate Birthday
Arrey Bate was born on April 10 in Mamfe, South West Region of Cameroon. He celebrates his birthday on April 10 every year.
Arrey Bate Family And Siblings
Arrey was born to a Christian family of six, two girls and four boys. His father is a reverend pastor and his mother has been a teacher for more than 30 years.
Arrey Bate University And Education
Arrey was first schooled in Bakingili. At the age of six, he took part in his first athletic race organized by the Seme Beach Hotel. Arrey won his first athletic medal coming 5th among 343 runners.
When his parents moved to Bonadikombo Mile 4, he schooled at Government High School Bonjongo. He was an active member of the school’s Journalism Club and was elected the Club president in 2010. At 13, he became one of the youngest presidents the journalism club ever had.
When his parents moved to Mbakang, Arrey obtained an ordinary level degree as a pioneer student in Government High School Afap. But Arrey was the only new student admitted into the class that year. Why? The school principal refused new admissions into the class that year because it was their pioneer ordinary levels batch and they were trying to maintain ‘good results’.
Arrey’s father who had recently been transferred to pastor in Mbakang raised a complaint about the principal to the local divisional officer who signed a special note ordering Arrey’s admission to the pioneer class that year.
After obtaining his ordinary level certificate, Arrey moved to Government High School Mamfe where obtained his advanced level
In 2014 he moved to Buea to study for a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and along his journey, he joined The Glory In His Presence Musical Band as bassist. The next year Arrey was the brain behind the music in the Cameroonian movie ‘Choices We Make’ produced by Montana Peters. Though he began in 2019, it took him 5 years to often a degree – as per a normal 3 years
Arrey Bate Journalism Career & Internet Entrepreneurship
Arrey’s love for a dressing made him nurse love for the journalism profession. He would later explain how a comment from his Dad caused him to pursue a journalism career. While watching TV, his father mentioned that some journalists had dressing allowances to make them appear good on the media. With his love for dressing, Arrey decided to venture into journalism—a story he later explained was a funny way of getting into his passion.
In 2013 while at High school, Arrey began his career as a journalist volunteering for Voice of Manyu, a pioneer radio station in the Manyu Division.
He volunteered for two years as a radio host with Voice of Manyu while getting his advanced level certificate from Government High school Mamfe
In 2014 Arrey moved to Buea to begin his studies in the University of Buea’s Journalism and mass communication department.
From 2014 to 2016, he studied while serving other media newspapers like Cameroon Herald, The Recorder Newspaper, and Chariot radio, the department’s student practicing radio. He also served as a radio host for Ocean city radio hosting the program ‘Dedicas’
On November 27, 2016, at the start of the Cameroon Anglophone crisis, Arrey though a student, was assigned to cover the student’s strike at the University of Buea campus. The strike turned violent and the military tortured and tear-gassed striking students while he was reporting at the front of the scene. He was among those tear-gassed.
When the strike action extended to the whole of Buea he dropped out of school and picked up a job to podcast and report for Washington DC-based Legideon Magazine.
Two months later he was promoted to Senior content producer controlling the team of writers across Cameroon, second to the Cameroon bureau chief
In April 2017, Arrey completed a side training in theology and was later posted to begin a branch of his church in Mutengene, a center city linking the towns of Limbe Buea and Douala.
The rest of the time, Arrey spent his life preaching and evangelizing in his new church, reporting for Legideon Magazine and playing music for his local assembly.
This was the same time he began to write online, sharing socio-political reports he did during the crisis. Five months later, he decided to take blogging full time after acquiring self-learned digital skills.
In September 2017 he stopped reporting for Legideon magazine and returned to complete his degree in journalism and mass communication while publishing full time at www.arreyb.com to earn a living. This was the beginning of his online career.
In 2018, Arrey rose to prominence and his blog which focused on socio-political news got wide attention with the featuring of prominent political figures. Arrey reported several burnings, human rights, press freedom, and political rivalry stories in including heated wars of the Anglophone crisis.
That same year he was made brand ambassador for The Institute of Commercial Management, Cameroon chapter.
That same 2018, Arrey wouldn’t explain why he was unable to graduate from the University of Buea, but it was the same year he obtained a minor certificate in human resource management after studying a crash course from Rome Business school Nigeria
In October 2019, Arrey served the Now Movement and ran the online campaign for 2018 presidential candidate Barrister Akere Muna. Arrey spent the rest of his 2018 traveling and working for the prominent barrister until the time of Muna’s coalition with Maurice Kamto.
The Kamto-Akere coalition came second in the electoral results after incumbent president Paul Biya.
Arrey was seen hanging out with Muna until the period of elections and during the period when Muna defended Maurice Kamto at the constitutional court in Yaounde, the case against electoral fraud in Cameroon.
Arrey was the first Cameroonian blogger to ever take on a national tour in Cameroon. The ARREYB Media National tour was a series of conferences to train Cameroonian youths, entrepreneurs, and young media influencers on blogging, digital entrepreneurship, and building a brand or career via social media. The tour which happened in January and February 2019 saw 7 conferences organized in 6 cities of Cameroon including Buea, Douala, Limbe, Dschang, Yaounde, and Tiko
In 2017 when Arrey just launched his business ARREYB Media, he was craving to connect with Cameroonian Media guru Bony Dashaco. Dashaco is estimated to be worth billions and has been repeatedly listed on Forbes for several years in a roll and among Africa’s top 10 most influential young leaders. Arrey recalls how he made more than 4 trips to Dashaco’s office but no permission to cross the gate. He dropped over 8 appointment letters and sent numerous emails but still didn’t get any appointment opportunities.
In 2019 after getting Dashaco’s private email, a carefully crafted email to Dashaco got a response 4 hours later. So this led to their first meeting after all the tough years and more connection between Dashaco and Arrey. The experience led Arrey and a team of successful entrepreneurs who spent time analyzing and understanding such difficulties faced by young African entrepreneurs to begin the AB Afrikpreneur Community. AB Afrikpreneur is an annual experience for entrepreneurs of all walks of life across Africa who want to build solid networks, all commanding from their cell phones!
In July 2019 Arrey hit the world stage when he was listed among the British Council’s top 100 young journalists worldwide and invited as one of the delegates for the 2019 Future News worldwide conference.
In August 2019 Arrey featured on the BBC’s Focus on Africa with presenter Sophie Ikenye.
A month later, Arrey’s news blog www.arreyb.com was nominated for the Infinity Blog awards USA among 200 top blogs worldwide selected from a submission of 3,000 entries.
Arrey graduated with a degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Buea in December 2019.
Today he spend his time running ARREYB Media. ARREYB Media runs a news website arreyb.com and a marketing agency called ARREYB Is Marketing (arreybismarketing.com) and every year, Arrey convenes the AB Afrikpreneur community in an annual event
Arrey Bate Recognitions
2019 British council top 100 Young journalists worldwide
Top 100 young leaders – Oxford University’s 2021 Global Leadership Challenge
Winner, 2021 Global Leadership Challenge by Oxford University & St Gallen Symposium
Arrey Bate Personal life & Relationship
When it comes to his personal life, Arrey keeps a tight mouth. He has refused to share details of his private life with the public. Though a jovial and playful person, little about his dating life or personal relationship is shared on his social media. As a result, the media knows little about this.
Arrey Bate enjoys music, traveling, swimming, and creative writing.
