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| Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija |
Sixty-nine-year-old, Nigerian oil magnate,
Folorunsho Alakija, has emerged the wealthiest black woman on earth and
nineteenth richest African in 2019 according to Forbes.
According to Forbes, Alakija’s fortune has been estimated at $1 billion, as of today, January 13, 2020.
It is pertinent to note that Folorunsho Alakija started her career as a secretary in a bank in the mid-1970s, after which she studied fashion in London and then returned to Nigeria to start a label, Supreme Stitches. Her biggest break, however, came in oil.
In 1993, her company, Famfa Oil, was awarded an oil prospecting license, which later became OML 127, one of the country’s most prolific oil blocks, by then-president Ibrahim Babangida.
The company owned a 60 percent stake in the block until 2000 when the Nigerian government unconstitutionally acquired a 50 percent interest without duly compensating Alakija or Famda Oil.
In May 2012, Alakija, a married mother-of-four, challenged the acquisition and the Nigerian Supreme Court reinstated the 50 percent stake to her company. She also has a charity called the Rose of Sharon Foundation that helps widows and orphans by empowering them through scholarships and business grants.
According to Forbes, Alakija’s fortune has been estimated at $1 billion, as of today, January 13, 2020.
It is pertinent to note that Folorunsho Alakija started her career as a secretary in a bank in the mid-1970s, after which she studied fashion in London and then returned to Nigeria to start a label, Supreme Stitches. Her biggest break, however, came in oil.
In 1993, her company, Famfa Oil, was awarded an oil prospecting license, which later became OML 127, one of the country’s most prolific oil blocks, by then-president Ibrahim Babangida.
The company owned a 60 percent stake in the block until 2000 when the Nigerian government unconstitutionally acquired a 50 percent interest without duly compensating Alakija or Famda Oil.
In May 2012, Alakija, a married mother-of-four, challenged the acquisition and the Nigerian Supreme Court reinstated the 50 percent stake to her company. She also has a charity called the Rose of Sharon Foundation that helps widows and orphans by empowering them through scholarships and business grants.
She is the group managing director of The Rose
of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions
Limited, Digital Reality Prints Limited and the executive vice-chairman of
Famfa Oil Limited.
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