Sometime last week, I was priviledged to meet the graceful Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, Nigerian billionaire businesswoman, philanthropist and Africa’s second richest woman. I spent over 3 hours in her office where we had some interesting conversations. I find the story of her life and acquisition of her oil blocks hugely instructive and thought to share some with you below. It didn’t begin all rosy for her, either. In her own words, she narrates how, despite spotting key loopholes in the petroleum sector, doing stressful paper works, documentations et al, they were declined operating license on several occasions. It’s quite a long read, but the lessons are worth the time. – Isaac Oladipupo

Our foray into the oil business was not at all planned. Like so many other things in life, God ordained this venture through grace. In January 1991, a friend approached us with request for assistance with the sourcing of Nigerian crude oil for export to America by an American company. We sought an appointment with the Nigerian Petroleum Minister, who explained that there was very little margin for lifting crude oil, and that the company should be invited to invest in Nigeria instead of exporting oil to America. We delivered the invitation to invest locally, but the American company declined the offer. Out interest in the Petroleum industry now roused we offered that the company would facilitate the transportation of crude oil from one location to another. The Petroleum Minister turned us down again, this time on the basis that pipelines would soon be laid and render the service obsolete. On a third visit, we came armed with an introductory letter... Read More at www.topnaija.ng/how-i-made-it-big-in-oil-business-folorunsho-alakija/

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