Who is Folorunsho Alakija
Folorunsho Alakija is one of the richest women in the world. she started her journey to wealth in the fashion industry and the entrepreneur spirit in her drove to oil prospectus, the rest is history, now Folorunsho Alakija is worth $2.5 billion dollars making her one of the wealthiest Africans out there.
Born in Lagos, Alakija was schooled in the UK and attended Pitman’s Central College in London. As a passion, she was into the fashion industry and so she naturally also attended the Central School of Fashion.
When she returned back home, in Lagos Nigeria, she resolved to launch her own tailoring business and in no time became the National President and a Trustee for the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria.
In fact, among Alakija’s customers included the wife of former Nigerian president Ibrahim Babangida.
That was just the beginning, in the early 90s, the visionary entrepreneur smelled success in the black gold that Nigeria is so rich of, she applied for a license to begin prospecting for oil. And Famfa Oil was born.
Folorunsho Alakija net worth: $ 2.5 billion
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As luck would have it, or shall we say, as her intuitions drove her, she struck gold, lots and lots of black gold.
“It turns out, the plot of land she was granted was sitting on over 1 billion barrels of potential oil,” writes celebrityworth.com
I am delighted at my re- appointment as the Chancellor of the Osun State University. It is such an honour and I look forward to serving and leaving a legacy of educational excellence. pic.twitter.com/jfiLGKaXHQ
— Folorunso Alakija (@alakijaofficial) March 16, 2021
She owns 60% of the drilling venture that is off the coast of Nigeria. As would be expected, after a billion barrels were discovered, the Nigerian government attempted to take the land grant back, Alakija would not budge.
A 12-year legal battle ensued that reached all the way to the Supreme Court of Nigeria and guess who came out victorious, yes, Alikija. As soon as the legal verdict came down, Folorunsho was instantly worth billions of dollars.
Today, Folorunsho Alakija is currently one of the richest black women on the planet. She partnered with Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited, a Texaco company, and Petrobras, a Brazilian company but she owns 60 percent of the stakes making her one of the richest women in the world.
In a nutshell
- Alakija is now vice-chair of Famfa Oil, a Nigerian oil exploration company with a stake in Agbami Oilfield, a prolific offshore asset.
- Famfa Oil’s partners include Chevron and Petrobras.
- The Nigerian government awarded Alakija’s company an oil prospecting license in 1993, which was later converted to an oil mining lease.
- The Agbami field has been operating since 2008
