Nigerian oil tycoon, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, is now the richest black woman in the world, with an estimated fortune of $7.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Mother of four, Alakija, 62, unseats Winfrey, who is worth $2.9 billion, as the richest black woman in the world.
Africa boasts 55 billionaires and they’re worth a staggering $143.88 billion in total, according to pan-African magazine, Ventures Africa.
Alakija started her career as a secretary in a bank in the mid 1970s. She 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 licence, which later became OML 127, one of Nigeria’s most prolific oil blocks.
The company owns a 60-percent stake in the block, valued at around $7.3 billion, Ventures Africa has reported. (AFP)
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