 BELIVE ME MONEY ANWERS ALL THINGS |
Ever since her mention in the recent Forbes Africa feature as one of the richest women in Africa, Nigerian billionaire oil tycoon, Fashion designer and philanthropist, Folorunsho Alakija has captured the attention of many as someone to watch out for. Now, another online publication, Ventures Africa has ranked her as the World’s Richest Black Woman. According to the report, she has ousted Oprah Winfrey from the position.
Ventures Africa
claims that contrary to the Forbes Magazine ranking which pegs her net
worth at only $600 million, Alakija is actually worth at least $3.3
billion. She earned most of her wealth from the oil and gas sector.
Alakija, 61, started out her
professional career in the mid 70s as a secretary at the now defunct
International Merchant Bank of Nigeria, one of the country’s earliest
investment banks. In the early 80s, she quit her job and went on to
study Fashion design in England, returning to Nigeria shortly afterwards
to start Supreme Stitches, a premium Nigerian fashion label which
catered exclusively to upscale clientele.
In May 1993 Alakija applied for an
allocation of an Oil Prospecting License (OPL). The license to explore
for oil on a 617,000 acre block – (now referred to as OPL 216) was
granted to Alakija’s company, Famfa Limited. In
September 1996, she entered into a joint venture agreement with Star
Deep Water Petroleum Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Texaco) and
appointed the company as a technical adviser for the exploration of the
license, transferring 40 percent of her 100 percent stake to Star Deep.
Subsequently, Star Deep sold off 8 percent of its stake in OPL 216 to
Petrobas, a Brazilian company. Folorunsho Alakija and her family owned
60 percent.
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