Despite falling oil prices, Nigerian Billionaire,
Folorunsho Alakija has edged past Oprah
Winfery as world's richest Black Woman, with
a fortune of $7.3bn. On the other hand,
Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.9billion, according
to Forbes.
According to Ventures Africa magazine's Rich
List, Alakija generated her wealth from oil
and gas.
"It is widely believed that Alakija's friendship
with Maryam Babangida, the late wife of
former head of state, Ibrahim Babangida,
played a huge role in her relatively
inexpensive acquisition of the oil block back
in 1993," the magazine noted.
United Kingdom-based Business Consultant,
Philip Obi cautions that Alakija's stand is
shaky because oil is fast losing value in the
face of falling oil prices. "Except she decides
to diversify, 90% wealth in oil look unsteady
considering the alternative energy potential,"
Obi said.
"The world is going digital. Very soon, wealth
will no longer be what we use to know; look
at Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. That is
where the world is going into- Digital world.
The people who will continue to rule will be
those in communications, food and health,
social media, finance. These pillars are going
to be critical to run the world. People are
becoming multi- millionaire by just building
smile apps."
For his part, National President of
Independent Shareholders Association (ISAN),
Sunny Nwosu said that her ranking as
world's richest black woman is
understandable because she has one of the
biggest oil wells in the country that is
managed on her behalf by a leading
multinational oil corporation.
"Her oil well is one of the investments the
military government bequeathed to people
like her," Nwosu said.
According to Ventures Africa, Africa boasts
55 billionaires and they're worth a staggering
$143.88 billion in total.
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, said
Ventures Africa
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Woman - Alakija Topples Oprah Winfrey
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