Move over Oprah, there is a new Billionaire in town. These are the words you probably never thought you would hear. To African Americans, Oprah Winfrey is the epitome of success in the western world and capitalism. After all, she worked her way from the bottom of the money pit to the penthouse to a deluxe, lavish condo in the sky. She moved on up.

However, a Nigerian oil tycoon has unseated Oprah as the richest black woman in the world. Folorunsho Alakija has done what many would have thought would have been impossible. She has accumulated more money than Oprah and taken a place at the table of the richest people in the world.

According to Pan-African Magazine, Africa now has 55 billionaires, which Alakija is one of them. No one suspected Africa to have so many billionaires, with a total worth of $143.88 billion (READ: Folorunsho Alakija Net Worth: From Fashion To Oil, She Became One Of The Richest Women In The World). Guess the west never expected the people on the richest continent in the world to actually grasp any wealth in their own land after the deathblows they have delivered over the past 3,000+ years of damage (yes, we will address the history in another article).

From the Daily Mail: Starting her career as a secretary in a bank in the mid 1970s, Alakija, 62, then studied fashion in London and returned to Nigeria to start a label, Supreme Stitches. But her biggest break came in oil.

In 1993, her company, Famfa Oil, was awarded an oil prospecting license, which later became OML 127, one of the country’s most prolific oil blocks, by then-president Ibrahim Babangida.

The company owned a 60 per cent stake in the block until 2000 when the Nigerian government unconstitutionally acquired a 50 per cent interest without duly compensating Alakija or Famda Oil. 

In May 2012, Alakija, a married mother-of-four, challenged the acquisition and the Nigerian Supreme Court reinstated the 50 per cent stake to her company.

The actual valuation of Alakija’s fortune is an estimate. The estimate is based on Brazilian oil company, Petrobas, interest in selling their 8 percent stake in OML 127 for $1.5 to $2.5 billion. Conservative estimates say if they are able to sell for $1 billion, then this would put Alakija’s 60 percent stake at $7.3 billion dollars and enough unseat Oprah at the top of the richest black woman list.

These estimates are considered to be very conservative, which means she could be worth much more. The richest person in African is Nigerian manufacturer Aliko Dangote who is worth $20.2 billion. 

According to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.9 billion.

Details source: Daily Mail