MEET AFRICA’S RICHEST WOMAN AND THE WORLD’S RICHEST BLACK WOMAN: MRS FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA.
Mrs Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian born in 1951 into a family of Chief L.A Ogbara in Ikorodu, Lagos state Nigeria. She was born in to a family that had 52 children and she happened to be among the lucky two who went abroad to school.
At age seven she travelled to the united kingdom to begin a four year primary school education at Dinorben school for girls in Hafodunos hall, Wales. She then came back to Nigeria and had her secondary school education at Muslim High school Sagamu Ogun state. Afterwards she returned abroad for her secretarial studies at Pitman’s Central college London. She also studied fashion design at America college, London and the central school of fashion.
Mrs Folorunsho started her career in 1974 as an executive secretary at Sijuade Enterprises Lagos Nigeria
She moved on to the former First National bank of Chicago now known as Finbank acquired by First City Monument Bank(FCMB) where she worked for some years before she established a tailoring company called Supreme Stitches.
It rose to fame and prominence within a few years and Rose of Sharon house of fashion became a household name. As national president and lifelong trustee of Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria(FADAN), she left an indelible mark promoting Nigerian fashion, culture and style.
She is a business tycoon involved in oil, fashion, and printing press. She is the CEO and group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consist of Sharon prints and promotion limited and Digital Reality limited. She is also the vice chairman of Famfa Oil limited.
In May 1993, she applied for the 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. Her company Famfa was granted the license.the block is located somewhere in the central niger delta, and that is how she started her rise in wealth and affluence.
She recently beat Isabela dos Santos of Angola to become the richest woman in Africa and she also beat American tv presenter Oprah Winfreh to become the richest black woman. According to forbes she is the 96th most powerful woman in the world. She is currently worth 2.5 billion US dollars.
She got married to a lawyer Mr Modupe Alakija in November 1976 and she has four sons and also an aunt to popular Nigerian entertainer DJ Xclusive. She resides in Lagos state Nigeria.
She also has a foundation called Rose of Sharon foundation that aims at helping orphans and widows by empowering them through scholarships and business grants.
OAU CHRISTIANS 