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| Folorunsho Alakija |
Profile
Nigeria's richest
woman draws the bulk of her fortune from oil. Folorunsho Alakija started her
career in the mid 1970s as a secretary at the now-defunct International
Merchant Bank of Nigeria, one of the West African nation's earliest investment
banks. In the 1980s, after studying fashion design in England, she founded
Supreme Stitches, a Nigerian fashion label that catered to upscale clientele.
Her biggest break came in oil. In 1993 Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida
awarded her company, Famfa Oil, an oil prospecting license which went on to
become OML 127, one of Nigeria's most prolific oil blocks. Famfa Oil owned a
60% stake in the block until 2000 when the Nigerian government, led by former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, unconstitutionally acquired a 50% interest in the
block without duly compensating Alakija or her company. Famfa Oil went to court
to challenge the acquisition, and in May this year, the Nigerian Supreme Court
reinstated the 50% stake to Famfa Oil. Chevron owns the remaining 40%. Through
her charity, the Rose of Sharon Foundation, Alakija supports widows throughout
Nigeria.
Source: Forbes
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