Connectnigeria Articles

… Ventures Africa values Alakija at $7.3 billion,

… According to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.9 billion

According to latest report by pan-African magazine Ventures Africa, Nigerian oil tycoon Folorunsho Alakija is now the richest black woman in the world with an estimated worth of $7.3 billion as TV queen, Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.9billion by another business and fortune magazine, Forbes.

Mrs. Folounsho Alakija began her now flourishing career as a secretary in a bank in the mid 1970s, before heading to study fashion in London and upon her return to Nigeria, she began her label, Supreme Stitches. But her biggest break came in oil.

In 1993, then military-president Ibrahim Babangida awarded her company, Famfa Oil, an oil prospecting license, which later became OML 127, one of the country’s most prolific oil blocks.

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. As part of her own way of giving back to the society, Mrs. Alakija runs a charity called the ‘Rose of Sharon foundation’ that helps widows and orphans by empowering them through scholarships and business grants. The Ventures Africa reports also claim that Africa boasts of 55 billionaires worth a staggering $143.88 billion in total, according to Ventures Africa.