10 Things You Didn’t Know About Folorunsho Alakija

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Folorunsho Alakija

Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist. She is involved in the fashion, oil, real estate and printing industries. She is the Group Managing Director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited, Digital Reality Prints Limited and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited. Alakija also has a majority stake in DaySpring Property Development Company. 

In this article, we highlight 10 things you didn’t know about Folorunsho Alakija.

1. Folorunsho Alakija was ranked by Forbes as the richest woman in Nigeria

Alakija was ranked by Forbes as the richest woman in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $1 billion in 2020. 

Alakija’s interests in fashion, oil, real estate and more have earned her a net worth of over $3 billion USD, and she easily ranks as the richest woman in Nigeria.

2. Alakija was listed as the second most powerful woman in Africa 

International Monetary Fund (photographer uncredited), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As of 2014, Alakija is listed as the 96th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. In May 2015, two Nigerian women, Finance Minister Ngozi okonjo-Iweala and Alakija were listed among the world’s 100 most powerful women according to Forbes. She was 86th on the list. Read more on 15 Famous African Entrepreneurs. 

3. Alakija had an early education in the U.K. 

Alakija attended her nursery education at Our Ladies of Apostles, Lagos from 1955 to 1958. At the age of seven, Alakija travelled to the United Kingdom to continue her primary education at Dinorben School for Girls in Hafodunos Hall in Llangernyw, Wales between 1959 and 1963. 

On the completion of her primary education, Alakija attended Muslim High School in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria. She then returned to England for her secretarial studies at Pitman’s Central College, London.

4. Alakija had a 12-year banking career

Alakija started her 12-year banking career in 1974 as an executive secretary at Sijuade Enterprises, Lagos, Nigeria shortly after completing a Secretarial Course at Pitman’s Central College London. She moved to the former First National Bank of Chicago, which later became FinBank now acquired by First City Monument Bank as the Executive Secretary to the managing director. 

Alakija became the new Head of the Corporate Affairs Department of the International Merchant Bank of Nigeria, formerly First National Bank of Chicago, and later on became the Office Assistant to the Treasury Department.

5. Alakija studied fashion design in London

Alakija studied fashion design at The American College in London and the Central School of Fashion. She started a fashion label known as Supreme Stitches, which was later renamed The Rose Of Sharon House of Fashion in 1996. 

She was the president and lifelong trustee of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria.

6. Alakija is related to British-Nigerian DJ Xclusive

Nkemonwudiwe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Through her marriage to lawyer Modupe Alakija, Folorunsho is an aunt to the British-Nigerian DJ, producer, and artist known as DJ Xclusive. 

Xclusive was born in the U.K. to Nigerian parents. One of his parents is Modupe’s sibling. DJ Xclusive, is a Nigerian disc jockey, record producer and recording artist.

7. Alakija’s first company, Supreme Stitches quickly shot to fame

Supreme Stitches soon became known as a high-end label and rose to prominence. Alakija cleverly positioned her brand to cater to upscale clientele, including Nigerian First Lady Maryam Babangida, who would go on to become Alakija’s most high-profile client.

It was this company that gave Alakija her first taste of earned wealth, though she would go on to earn far more from other business ventures. Read more on 55 Most Influential Women Entrepreneurs. 

8. Alakija’s investments in the oil industry have been her most lucrative

Kaizenify, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In May 1993, Alakija applied for the allocation of an oil prospecting license. The license to explore for oil on a 617,000-acre block, now referred to as OPL 216 was granted to Alakija’s company, Famfa Limited. 

In September 1996, Alakija entered into a joint venture agreement with Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Texaco transferring a 40 per cent stake to Star Deep. After they struck oil, the Nigerian government claimed a 40% stake, followed by an additional 10%. The government’s argument was if Alakija and family were allowed to keep their bloc, they stood to make $10 million a day. Alakija disputed this claim and won.

9. Alakija was born into a polygamous family

Alakija was born on 15 July 1951 to an upper-middle-class family; her father was Chief L. A. Ogbara of Ikorodu, Lagos State. 

Her father married 8 wives and had 52 children and Folorunso’s mother was the first wife of Chief Ogbara.

10. Alakija established the Rose of Sharon Foundation

Alakija’s foundation, the Rose of Sharon Foundation, is set up to help widows and orphans through scholarships and grants as part of a vast community network. The foundation was launched in 2008 and bills itself as a private, voluntary, faith-based, non-governmental organization in Lagos State, Nigeria.