Folorunso Alakija is one of the richest women in Africa, and the richest woman in Nigeria — Africa most Populous country.
She is one of the only two African women on Forbes’s richest people in Africa. She graduated from Pitman Central College, London, where she studied Secretarial Studies in the late 1970s.
Folorunso Alakija was born on Friday, July 15, 1951, in the small city of Ikorodu, Lagos. She has four sons that are married and have grandchildren. She is currently in her 70’s.
Folorunsho Alakija is living in Lagos, Nigeria with Modupe Alakija her beloved husband for over four decades. She had her preschool education in Our Lady of Apostles, Laos. From 1955 until 1958.
Alakija started her career as an Executive Secretary for Sijuade Enterprises, Lagos in 1974. She later resigned from Sijuade Enterprises to work for the National Bank of Chicago which is now known as First City Monument Bank (FCMB).
After some years, she entered into a fashion that lead her in establishing a tailoring outfit called Supreme Stitches. She later renamed the name Rose of Sharon Fashion when she rebranded the business.
Her contribution to the fashion industry earned her the position as the National President of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN). She later started Famfa Limited in 1991, which is now one of the largest crude oil exporting companies in Nigeria.
In 1993, the company applied for the license to carry out oil exploration activities for the Agbami Field which was granted.
The oil field that was known as OPL 216 is now OML 127.
The license that was given to the company to explore the oil field is due for renewal in 2024. In 1996, Alakija transferred 40 percent of her shares from her 100 percent to Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited, one subsidiary of Texaco.
She appointed the company to provide expert advisory services to Famfa Limited for handling exploration activities for the Agbami Oil field.
That same year she bagged a Master of Business Administration from CWC School for Energy, London.
She is the founder of the Rose of Sharon Foundation, one non-governmental organization that she established to empower widows, orphans, and underprivileged people.
Alakija is ranked as the richest woman in Africa by Forbes Magazine. Apostle Folorunso Alakija’s net worth stands at $1bn dollars according to Forbes Magazine.
In 2015, the magazine ranked her as the 87th most powerful woman in the world.
