Move over Oprah, Nigerian oil tycoon
Folorunsho Alakija is now the richest
black woman in the world with an
estimated fortune of $7.3 billion.
Africa boasts 55 billionaires – far more
than previously thought – and they’re
worth a staggering $143.88 billion in
total, according to pan-African magazine
Ventures Africa.
Starting her career as a secretary in a
bank in the mid 1970s, Alakija, 62, then
studied fashion in London and returned
to Nigeria to start a label, Supreme
Stitches. But her biggest break 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 per cent stake
in the block until 2000 when the Nigerian
government unconstitutionally acquired
a 50 per cent 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 per cent 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.
Forbes magazine had estimated Alakija’s
fortune at $600 million, as of November
2012, but the magazine’s editor-in-chief
Uzodinma Iweala said his researchers
were ‘closer to the ground.
Source:www.citifmonline.com
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