Nigerian oil magnate, Folorunsho Alakija has officially dethroned Oprah Winfrey and claimed the title of richest black woman in the world. With an estimated fortune of $7.3 billion, Alakija’s fortune is more than double that of the American media mogul who was the first black woman billionaire in world history.
Alakija started off her career as a secretary in a bank in the 1970s, before moving to London to study fashion and returning to Nigeria to start a fashion label called Supreme Stitches. The label rose to prominence within a few years and soon became a household name. Folorunsho eventually established an oil company, Famfa Limited, and in 1993, applied for an oil prospecting license. The oil block, situated approximately 350 kilometres south east of Lagos and 112 kilometres off the coast of Nigeria in the Agbami Field of the central Niger Delta, later became one of the
country’s most productive oil blocks. Her company currently owns a 60 percent stake in the block, valued at around $7.3 billion.
Africa has approximately 55 billionaires – far more than previously thought – and they’re worth a staggering $143.88 billion in total. It’s heartening to see this number growing.