Encomium
Folorunsho Alakija, 65, is the daughter of Chief L.A. Ogbara in Ikorodun area of Lagos state. And with a networth of $1.66 billion (Wednesday, May 25). She’s Africa’s second richest woman after Isabel Dos Santos who is first in Africa with networth of $3.3 billion. She was listed as the second most powerful woman in Africa, after Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Here are 10 quick facts about the billionaire who is now number 87 on Forbes powerful women list:
1) Folorunsho was born in Ikorodu (Lagos) in 1951 to the family of Chief L.A. Ogbara.
2) She went to the United Kingdom at 7, and attended Dinorben School for Girls. She returned to Nigeria to attend Muslim high school Sagamu, Ogun state, Nigeria. She returned abroad for her secretarial studies at Pitman’s Central College, London.
3) She also studied fashion design at the American College, London and the Central School of Fashion.
4) She started her career in 1974 as an executive secretary at Sijuade Enterprises, Lagos, Nigeria.
5) In November 1976, Folorunsho married a lawyer, Modupe Alakija.
6) She has four sons and grandchildren. Her nephew is the British-Nigerian DJ Exclusive
7) On March 9, 2016, she became the first female chancellor (Osun state university renamed Bola-Ige university) in Nigeria.
8) She has a charity called the Rose of Sharon foundation that helps widows and orphans by empowering them through scholarship and business grants.
9) As a philanthropist, she also founded the Folorunsho Alakija Scholarship Scheme (FASS) which has consistently aided quite a number of indignent Nigerians who cannot afford good and quality education.
10) Currently she serves as the chief matron of Africa’s young entrepreneur.
