Folorunso Alakija

Folorunsho Alakija (born July 15, 1951) is a Nigerian businesswoman and philanthropist.

She is the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group and the executive vice chairman of Famfa Oil Limited.

Alakija was born on July 15, 1951.

Her father had 5 wives and 23 children, and Folorunso's mother was the first.

She is Yoruba.

At the age of ten, Alakija traveled to the United Kingdom for her education.

Alakija attended Muslim High School in Shagamu, Nigeria and African Church Grammar School Abeokuta.

She then returned to England for her secretarial studies at Pitman's Central College, London.

Alakija started her 12-year banking career in 1974 as an executive secretary at Sijuade Enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria.

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.

She became the new Head of the Corporate Affairs Department of the International Merchant Bank of Nigeria (formerly First National Bank of Chicago) and later became the Office Assistant to the Treasury Department.

Alakija then studied fashion design at the American College in London and the Central School of Fashion.

Alakija married Modupe Alakija in November 1976.

They reside in Lagos, Nigeria, with their four sons.

In May 1993, Alakija applied for the allocation of an oil prospecting license (OPL).

The license to explore for oil on a 617,000-acre block, which is about 100km offshore of Nigeria in the Agbami Field was granted to Alakija's company, Famfa Limited.

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 (FADAN).

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 percent stake to Star Deep.

After they struck oil, the Nigerian government claimed a 40% stake, followed by an additional 10%.

The government argued that if Alakija and her family were allowed to keep their block, Alakija would dispute this claim and win.

Alakija has been listed among the Forbes World's 100 most powerful women multiple times.

On July 17, 2021, Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, bestowed on her an honorary doctorate degree in business administration.

Alakija established the Rose of Sharon Foundation that helps widows and orphans through scholarships and business grants.

Alakija has donated a skills acquisition center to Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), a higher educational institution located in Lagos.

In June 2017, their son Folarin Alakija married Iranian model Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifar.