In an interview with Forbes Africa in 2020, Folorunso Alakija said: "You must start by dreaming big and working towards achieving it." She certainly knows a thing or two about achieving big dreams. The Nigerian businesswoman, now in her early 70s, is a billionaire, one of Africa's richest women, with a career that includes fashion, oil and real estate.
It was oil that made Alakija's fortune. In 1993, her company, Famfa Oil Limited, received a licence to explore for oil 350 kilometres south-east of Lagos. Keen to support domestic participation in the country's growing oil industry, Nigeria's government, led by military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, awarded Alakija the plot. By then, she was no stranger to the country's political elite. In the late 1980s, she had designed clothes for Babangida's wife, Maryam Babangida.
Taking on the government
Famfa struck oil, and in 2000, Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's president at the time, claimed a 40 per cent stake in the company, followed by a further 10 per cent shortly afterwards. His government argued that if Alakija were to remain sole owner of the company, she would make $10 million a day. Alakija challenged this decision in court — and won.
Since then, Famfa has expanded to drilling for offshore oil in the Gulf of Guinea, and Alakija has become a billionaire. In 2018, she announced the construction of Famfa Tower, a 20-storey skyscraper in Lagos, at a cost of $145 million. Reportedly, Alakija is building it without taking out a loan. Her son, Folarin Alakija, married Iranian model Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifar at Blenheim Palace in 2017. Media reports suggested it was one of the world's most expensive weddings.
A large family
Alakija was born into a wealthy Nigerian family as one of 52 children — her father had eight wives. After her education in Lagos, Wales and London, she began a career as an executive secretary in 1974. She worked in the banking industry for 12 years, when she decided it was time for a change.
Having studied fashion in London, she founded Supreme Stitches in Nigeria, her first label. She later renamed it Rose of Sharon House of Fashion, and it was this brand that made her a household name as she dressed the country's rich and famous. She went on to serve as president of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria.
"I never went to a university and I am proud to say so because I don't think I have done too badly," she once said. It's hard to argue with that: Famfa, her oil company, continues to grow. She's still one of Africa's richest women. Folorunso Alakija has certainly achieved some pretty big dreams.