{"id":77470,"date":"2014-12-26T17:35:17","date_gmt":"2014-12-26T17:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=77470"},"modified":"2014-12-26T17:36:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-26T17:36:43","slug":"nigerian-billionaire-unseats-oprah-worlds-richest-black-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/12\/nigerian-billionaire-unseats-oprah-worlds-richest-black-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian billionaire unseats Oprah as world’s richest black woman"},"content":{"rendered":"
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
She also has a charity called the Rose of Sharon foundation that helps widows and orphans by empowering them through scholarships and business grants.<\/p>\n
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.’<\/p>\n
Still rich: According to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey, pictured, is worth $2.9 billion<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Richest African: The overall richest African is Nigerian manufacturer Aliko Dangote, pictured, who is worth $20.2 billion. Twenty Nigerians are listed in total<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The overall richest African is Nigerian manufacturer Aliko Dangote who is worth $20.2 billion. Twenty Nigerians are listed in total.<\/p>\n
According to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.9 billion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0dailymail.co.uk<\/p>\n
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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":77471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[38],"yoast_head":"\n