Meet The Nigerian Billionaire Who Dethroned Oprah As Richest Black Woman

Monday, 29 December 2014

Meet The Nigerian Billionaire Who Dethroned Oprah As Richest Black Woman

Report has it that Nigerian oil tycoon Folorunsho Alakija is now the richest black woman in the world with an estimated fortune of $7.3 billion.

62-year-old, Mother of four, Alakija unseats Oprah Winfrey as the richest black woman in the world. According to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.9 billion.

Alakija started her career as a secretary in a bank in the mid 1970s, Alakija, 62, then studied fashion in London and returned to Nigeria to start a label, Supreme Stitches. But her biggest break came in oil.

In 1993, her company, Famfa Oil, was awarded an oil prospecting license, which later became OML 127, one of Nigeria’s most prolific oil blocks.

The company owns a 60 per cent stake in the block, valued at around $7.3 billion, Ventures Africa reports.

Africa boasts 55 billionaires and they’re worth a staggering $143.88 billion in total, according to pan-African magazine Ventures Africa.