Nigerian Female Billionaire Defeats Oprah Winfrey To Become Richest Black Woman In The World

Move over Oprah, Nigerian oil tycoon Folorunsho
Alakija is now the richest black woman in the world
with an estimated fortune of $7.3 billion.
Africa boasts 55 billionaires – far more than previously
thought – and they're worth a staggering $143.88
billion in total, according to pan-African magazine
Ventures Africa.
Starting 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 the country's most prolific oil blocks, by then-
president Ibrahim Babangida.
The company owned a 60 per cent stake in the block
until 2000 when the Nigerian government
unconstitutionally acquired a 50 per cent interest
without duly compensating Alakija or Famda Oil.
In May 2012, Alakija, a married mother-of-four,
challenged the acquisition and the Nigerian Supreme
Court reinstated the 50 per cent stake to her company.
She also has a charity called the Rose of Sharon
foundation that helps widows and orphans by
empowering them through scholarships and business
grants.
Forbes magazine had estimated Alakija's fortune at $
600 million, as of November 2012, but the magazine's
editor-in-chief Uzodinma Iweala said his researchers
were 'closer to the ground.'
They noted that Brazilian oil company, Petrobas, was
looking to sell its 8 per cent stake in OML 127 for $
1.5- $2.5 billion, and extrapolated that if they managed
to sell it for $1 billion, Alakija's 60 per cent stake
would be worth at least $7.3 billion.
Iweala claims this and other estimates included in the
report are actually 'on the conservative side' and said
the magazine expect to unearth more African
billionaires shortly.
The overall richest African is Nigerian manufacturer
Aliko Dangote who is worth $20.2 billion. Twenty
Nigerians are listed in total.
According to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.9
billion.