Folorunso Alakija

• Honorific Prefix — Chief • Name — Folorunso Alakija • Birth Name — Folorunso Alakija • Born — 15 July 1951 • Birthplace — Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria • Citizenship — Nigeria • Education — Pitman Central College, London American College in London Central School of Fashion, London • Occupation — Businesswoman, philanthropist • Years Active — 1974–present • Known for — Co-founder of Famfa Oil; Rose of Sharon Group; fashion entrepreneurship; philanthropy • Title — Executive Vice Chairman, Famfa Oil • Spouse — Modupe Folorunso Alakija • Children — 4 • Boards — Famfa Oil Limited Rose of Sharon Group • Awards — Forbes Power Women listing (2014) Various honorary doctorates • Website — www.folorunsoalakija.com

Alakija was born into a middle-class family in Nigeria on 15 July 1951. Her father, Chief L.A. Ogbara, had 8 wives and 52 children, and Folorunso's mother was his first. She is from the Yoruba ethnicity of south-western Nigeria. At the young age, Folorunso Alakija travelled to the United Kingdom, where she began her primary education at Dinorben School for Girls in Wales before later returning to Nigeria for her secondary schooling. She later returned to the United Kingdom for further studies in secretarial administration at Pitman Central College, London, and subsequently pursued training in fashion design at institutions in London. Biographical accounts consistently describe her early education as beginning in the United Kingdom during childhood, a period which preceded her return to Nigeria for secondary education at Muslim High School, Sagamu.

In 1974, Alakija began working as an executive secretary at Sijuade Enterprises in Lagos. She later held positions at the First National Bank of Chicago and the International Merchant Bank of Nigeria. Alakija then studied fashion design at the American College in London and the Central School of Fashion. She started a fashion label called Supreme Stitches, renamed in 1996 as the Rose of Sharon House of Fashion. She served as the president of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) and remains a trustee of the organization. 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, about offshore of Nigeria, in the Agbami Field, was granted to her company, Famfa Limited. In September 1996, Alakija entered into a joint venture agreement with Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited, 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 Nigerian government subsequently sought to acquire a 50% interest in the block; Alakija contested this acquisition in court and the Supreme Court ruled in her favor in 2012.

In 2014, Forbes ranked Alakija as the 96th most powerful woman in the world. As of 2021, she was the wealthiest woman in Africa with an estimated net worth of $1 billion. In July 2021, Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, conferred on her an honorary doctorate degree. Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, in November 2022, gave Alakija an honorary doctorate.

Alakija established the Rose of Sharon Foundation, which provides scholarships and business grants to widows and orphans She donated a skills acquisition center to Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), a higher educational institution located in Lagos. In 2025, Alakija funded and donated the Modupe and Folorunso Alakija Medical Research and Training Hospital to Osun State University, a 250-bed teaching hospital reportedly valued at ₦34 billion. The facility comprises 20 clinical departments, five non-clinical departments, and a community health unit. It also provides maternity and neonatal care services, research and diagnostic laboratories, and four operating theatres. Its diagnostic services include imaging facilities such as CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, and X-ray, as well as radiotherapy suites. In addition, the hospital has 16 intensive care units, an ophthalmology unit, and several other specialized units aimed at supporting healthcare delivery and research activities.

Alakija married Modupe Alakija in November 1976. They reside in Lagos, Nigeria, with their four sons. In June 2017, their son, Folarin Alakija, married Iranian model Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifar.

Folorunso Alakija is recorded with the occupation business executive. Recorded with the occupation fashion designer. Recorded as business executive, philanthropist, businessperson, fashion designer and printer. The authorities additionally record the heading Folorunsho Alakija.