An Evening With Africa's Wealthiest Woman

Nigerian businesswoman Folorunso Alakija. She is reputed to be the wealthiest African woman on earth., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

An Evening With Africa’s Richest Woman

13 Apr 2013
Nigeria ThisDay

FORBES IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR RATED HER AS THE RICHEST WOMAN IN AFRICA WITH AN ESTIMATED NET WORTH OF $600 MILLION WHILE WIKIPEDIA DESCRIBES HER AS THE RICHEST BLACK WOMAN ON EARTH WITH AN ESTIMATED NET WORTH OF $3.2 BILLION. BUT THERE IS MORE TO MRS. FOLORUNSO ALAKIJA THAN BUSINESS AND MONEY, AS YEMI ADEBOWALE FOUND OUT DURING AN ENCOUNTER WITH HER IN HER OFFICE ON VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS RECENTLY. THIS BUSINESS MOGUL IS THE GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE ROSE OF SHARON GROUP COMPRISING THE ROSE OF SHARON PRINTS & PROMOTIONS LIMITED; PROMOSKILLS LIMITED AND DIGITAL REALITY PRINTS LIMITED. SHE IS ALSO THE EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRMAN OF FAMFA OIL LIMITED, MAJORITY SHAREHOLDER OF A HIGHLY LUCRATIVE OFFSHORE OIL BLOCK. BUSINESS ASIDE, THIS AMIABLE WOMAN IS EQUALLY DEEPLY INVOLVED IN PHILANTHROPY AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. HER ROSE OF SHARON FOUNDATION HELPS WIDOWS AND ORPHANS BY EMPOWERING THEM THROUGH SCHOLARSHIPS AND BUSINESS GRANTS. TO DATE, THE FOUNDATION HAS EMPOWERED 2926 WIDOWS. 1,150 WIDOWS’ CHILDREN AND 67 ORPHANS ARE CURRENTLY ON SCHOLARSHIPS TO TERTIARY LEVEL. SHE HAS EQUALLY BEEN VERY ACTIVE IN MISSIONARY WORK. HER ROSE OF SHARON MINISTRY “HAS BEEN WINNING SOULS FOR THE LORD WHILE ALSO RESTORING THE GLORY OF GOD’S CHILDREN.”

Effors to interview Mrs Folorunso Alakija commenced about five months ago. Calls to her phone numbers obtained from contacts in the oil and gas industry did not yield any result as they were always switched off. At a point, it was as if the interview with the Famfa Oil boss would never materialise. However, a couple of weeks ago, a message sent by this writer to Tony Elumelu, former Group Managing Director of UBA, did the magic. He offered to talk to her and she agreed to the interview. And so, I was face to face with the amiable Mrs. Alakija last week Thursday evening. The venue was her Famfa Oil premises on Victoria Island. At 62, this Ikorodu-born self-made billionaire was looking 30 years younger. This cool-talking woman would also be a hugely successful motivational speaker if she ventured into that field.

Her responses to questions, particularly her thoughts on how to get Nigerian youths off the unemployment market and other life challenges testify to this. Again, at every point during the interview, she tried to de-emphasise the issue of wealth. Mrs. Alakija does not want to be seen from the perspective of a billionaire business woman, but as a hard working Nigerian business woman creating jobs, helping the needy and youths, and contributing her own little quota to the development of her beloved country.

Her rise to fortune is a perfect story in hard work and perseverance. She started as a secretary in a company called Sijuade Enterprises Limited. She also worked as a secretary at the defunct International Merchant Bank, before going into business. When was her first foray into business? What was the experience like? “My foray into business started when I left my job in the bank to set up Supreme Stitches, a fashion designing outfit. That was in 1986.

I had gone to the United Kingdom to learn fashion designing and returned home to set up the outfit. It was launched in Surulere, Lagos, on November 1, 1986. On the first working day after the launch, I was invited to participate in a fashion competition organised by Times Leisure Services, an arm of the defunct Daily Times. They were the only one into fashion competition at that time. Initially, I was not interested in taking part because my label had just been launched.

“But I was persuaded to participate. But being who I am; usually, I don’t like running away from challenges. So, I decided to participate; I also saw a challenge in it. Three weeks later, the competition took place and by the Grace of God, I won and things have not been the same ever since. Daily Times gave me huge publicity as the 1986/87 Designer of the Year. They introduced me to a lot of people in the society, through courtesy visits. I also visited eminent people and organisations. I got huge publicity and my client base grew to the glory of God. That was my first business.

“Supreme Stitches started in Surulere. It was this fashion company that metamorphosed to Rose of Sharon House of Fashion. The company later changed to Rose of Sharon Prints and Promotions. After I left the fashion line, I went into printing. We are into different kinds of printing like monogram, which is like embroidery. I also went into heat transfer printing i.e. transferring heat to T-shirts and stuff like that. We are also doing picture transfer into mugs, cups, plates and things like that. We also went into large format printing and large scale production of T-shirts. But because the quality of the materials we were getting locally for the T-shirts were not good enough, we had to suspend that and we started to import the T-shirts. We are also into screen printing.

The printing business grew. Our customer base grew and our clients also asked for all sorts of souvenirs. So, we began the importation of souvenirs from China in bulk containers. We printed on them locally. It has been interesting. We later set up a new company entirely for the large format printing, also in Surulere. You must be wondering why we are using Surulere for most of our businesses. The area is central and accessible to most of our clients. The printing arm of my business is still active while fashion is out of it.”

Mrs. Alakija is associated more with Famfa Oil these days than the other three firms in the Rose of Sharon Group. Famfa Oil owns the majority shares in a lucrative oil block located 70 miles offshore Nigeria in the central Niger Delta. In 1996, she entered into a joint venture agreement with Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Texaco) and appointed the company as a technical adviser for the exploration of the oil field, transferring 40 per cent of her 100 per cent stake to Star Deep.

Petrobras, Brazilian national oil company also owns a stake in the oil block. So, how did the Famfa Oil Story start? “The Famfa Oil story started in 1991 when we applied for an oil block. We got the license in 1993, but we did not get a technical partner until 1996 because our location is in a deep offshore area.

“At that time, oil drilling technology had not gotten to where we are today. Our own field is over 1500 metres deep offshore. So, it was too expensive to explore. As a result, would-be technical partners were not willing to partner us because it was too expensive to explore. They were also not sure if the field would be able to pay for itself.

They were careful in case we don’t find oil in commercial quantity. Famfa Oil was in a limbo for sometime. Within those three years, the industry was not standing still. Gradually and slowly, more knowledge emerged about deep offshore drilling. Then, Texaco approached us. They had done their homework very well about deep offshore field and were willing to partner any indigenous oil company with such field. So, we got talking. Eventually, we signed an agreement after about three months of negotiation. The rest is history.”

How big is Famfa Oil and its oil block today? “Famfa Oil is an indigenous oil company with an oil field. As I said earlier, Texaco started as the operator of our oil block. Chevron later took over from Texaco as the operator of the field when it bought over Texaco. It is an oil field with over 1.2 billion of proven reserve. We have been lifting for over four years now. At its peak, production can hit 250,000 barrels per day. This is shared among the partners. Famfa currently owns 40 per cent of the field.”

Forbes in November last year listed her as Africa’s wealthiest women. What was her reaction to the $600 million estimated worth attached to her? Has this rating affected her and her businesses in any way? Alakija was very careful in responding to these. After a brief pause, she said: “That is their opinion. I don’t know how they arrived at the figures and how these things are analysed. I would not say yes, they were right or no, they were wrong. However, what I know is that I am here with my husband and staff running our businesses like any other business. That figure is their opinion. There has been a lot of publicity concerning that, but this is not the kind of publicity I would want to do anything about.”

But I persisted, hoping to get a rough idea of her worth. Forbes Magazine rating aside, how wealthy is Mrs. Alakija? “That’s a question I believe is personal, just as I would think that it will be personal to every human being, except for those who go on to the pages of newspapers to make an announcement about their wealth.”

The Nigerian business operating environment has always been a source of worry to business men. Alakija has equally been worried: “Over the years, what I have found out about Nigerians is that we are very complacent We accept things the way they are and suffer in silence. In many other countries, people would have protested, rioted or maybe war would break out if they experience what we are going through in Nigeria. But our people just continue to manage and manage in silence. We thank God that the government has started doing something about electricity. We need to see the result soon. It is something we are all looking forward to. It will make a lot of difference on our lives and economy.

“The roads are bad nationwide. If you try to travel to Ibadan now, you will probably spend about four hours to get there. Ordinarily, it should not take more than an hour. Telecommunication is no longer the same, compared to how it started. Initially, we were all hailing the GSM. But now, when you make a call, you will have to do it at least five times to say five words to the person on the other end. Traffic is endless all over our cities. As a result of these problems, our children no longer want to come back home. We have beggars in every nook and crannies’ of the country. Our people are hungry. I get at least three CVs on my desk every day for jobs. We have no jobs to offer them. So, where are we going?

“We need to create jobs and avenues for jobs for our children, so that they will stop robbing others who are trying to make a living. With this, the spate of kidnapping might reduce. I know that poverty is not an excuse to steal. But when they are pushed to the wall and they need to eat, they may decide to use it as an excuse. An unjustifiable excuse though.”

The Famfa boss is worried about the large number of youths roaming the streets for jobs. This is her advice to them: “I always say that lack of something can be a catalyst for getting something. If for instance, I studied economic and I can’t find a job. I can go back to the basics by trying to find out what my talents are. Find out what I can do with my hands.

I will think about how I can make a difference. What are the things people need that I can create with my hands? There are no white collar jobs. In developed societies, technical people like plumbers are making a lot of money. Electricians and painters are making good money. Our youth should think in terms of what they can do with their hands.

“We also need to see massive improvement in the education sector. This sector has gone down the drain over the years. Today, when you hire graduates, you would virtually have to re-do all over again whatever you tell them to do. If I were unemployed, I can attach myself to somebody that will give me vocational training.

Me that you are seeing here and my children once painted our house. When the painter gave us one hefty bill, I just got into my husband’s boxer after buying rollers, ladder, paints and tapes and painted our home with my children. My husband was very proud of us because we painted for one-fifth of what it would have cost us if we had hired a professional to do the job. We then diverted what we saved to something else. If I can do it, anybody can do it. Practice makes perfect. This is my key message to youths.

“If the unemployed person is a woman, I will say to her that a lot of successful woman started by baking cakes in their kitchen. People like the Sweet Sensation woman did. I know that she also sold fruits from her kitchen and was supplying offices. Look at Sweet Sensation today. They have branches all over Nigeria.

The same thing happened with the woman that started Taste Fried Chicken. She also started from our kitchen. I see no reason why a woman cannot start cooking from her kitchen and selling such. Many career women do not have the time to cook from morning to night, because they are so busy working, trying to support their husband. So, those who are looking for jobs could key into that area and supply foods to such families.

“They can cook the food at home and the women on their way back from their offices will pick them up. They don’t have to deliver the foods if they don’t have the means. People will stop by and pick the foods. Women without jobs can key into that gap and seal up the gap. There are so many things that can be done to avoid looking for jobs.

People look down on many things, forgetting that you can start small and grow. Just start small with what you have and you can grow the business. But people want big money quickly. Everybody wants a white collar job. Life is not just about white collar jobs. Other people have to do other jobs all over the world. Government has to create more jobs. They have to also improve the quality and standard of education to make graduates employable. More vocational centres must be built because it is not everybody that has academic ability. Many will become very useful to the society with vocation training. We can’t close our eyes to quality education.”

The Famfa boss has a message for Nigerians, particularly youths with the get-rich-quick mentality: “My message is simple. I did not start from here. I started on a small scale. When I was working for someone else, I spent my weekend buying and selling. I sold jewellery. I sold scarfs. My husband was also doing some buying and selling. Yet, he is a lawyer. People should not just look at people who are on top. They should go and study how they got there and the challenges they had to face as they while climbing the ladder. Rome was not built in a day. As you continue to struggle to make ends meet, somewhere, somehow, you will make it.”

What are her thoughts on corruption in Nigeria and the way out of the quagmire? “When people in high places are stealing money and getting away with it, what do you think it will lead to? It will lead to corruption and more corruption. More and more people want to get into politics because there is so much money to be made there. The best way to tackle corruption is by properly punishing corrupt people. I don’t support death penalty as a punishment for corruption because God is not in support of taking lives that people can’t create. God does not support the shedding of blood.

I will not advocate for that. But when people are found guilty of corruption, adequate punishment must follow. But I won’t support death penalty because the person killed would not learn anything from that. Maybe, those behind will learn something. Death penalty for corruption is a big price to pay.”

For Mrs Alakija, life is not just about working and making money. She has been actively involved in charity work, and touching thousands of lives across the nation: “Our main focus in charity is what God has called me and my husband to focus on. And this is helping widows and orphans. It has not been by choice but a calling. That is where he wants us to focus on. We have been doing this for many years, long before it was launched in 2008. The year 2008 was just the official take off date.

We encourage widows; we empower them, to help put food on their tables. We help them to learn a vocation or set up a business. We provide education for their children; we send them to school up to tertiary level. The orphans with nowhere to turn or go are given full scholarship.

“We started off in Surulere, Lagos. This was because I use to spend a large chunk of my day in Surulere. So, I felt that charity should begin at home. We initially had just only three widows and the Lord spoke to me to go on air. I first went to see the then chairperson of Surulere Local Government who allowed us to use their hall. We later went on air and had over 200 widows in just one day. We now have over a thousand widows whom we have empowered.

We meet with them regularly. We were empowering every three, till June last year when we decided that we needed to consolidate and perfect our books. We had stretched out our hands up to four states – Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Benue. Since we intend to go nationwide, we felt we should put our house in proper order before we do this. We must be able to do things properly to accommodate a nationwide plan.”

There are reports that Alakija also run a church. Is this true? “We don’t have a church. We have a fellowship. The home fellowship we were doing developed into a ministry. The ministry’s main focus according to what God told us is to restore the glory of his children. The Ministry is called The Rose of Sharon Ministry International.” Is there any chance of this developing into a church? “I would not know. We just follow what God tells us.”