Folorunsho Alakija – Nigeria
The 67-year-old was born into a wealthy, polygamous Nigerian family. After being a secretary at the International Merchant Bank of Nigeria, she subsequently quit her job in the early 80s and proceeded to study fashion design in England. When she returned to Nigeria, she started Supreme Stitches, a Nigerian fashion label which had customers including the wife of former Nigerian president Ibrahim Babangida. Today, Alakija, with a net worth of $1.6 billion is the vice chair of Famfa Oil, a Nigerian oil exploration company with a stake in the Agbami oil field, a prolific offshore asset. Famfa Oil’s partners include Chevron and Petrobras.
