Top 5 Richest Igbo Women and Their Source of Wealth

By Balogun Kamilu Lekan

Stella Chinyelu Okoli

Dr Stella Okoli is a pharmacist and an entrepreneur. She is the founder of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, one of the top locally produced pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria.

Born in 1944 in Northern Nigeria, Kano State. She is a native of  Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria.  

She started her career as a medical professional in the UK at institutions such as Middlesex Hospital in London, Boots the Chemists Limited, and Nigerian pharmaceutical firm, Pharma Deko.

In 1977, Stella started Emzor as a retail shop under the name “Emzor Chemists Limited” in Shomolu, Lagos State. 

Emzor Chemist Limited was later incorporated as Emzor Pharmaceuticals in 1984.

She is currently the CEO of Emzor Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company.

Over the years, Emzor pharmaceutical products have grown to become a necessity for every household in Nigeria. The company that started as a retail shop is now worth millions of dollars.

Emzor currently has a number of related companies, including Emzor HESCO, a supplier of hospital medical and diagnostic equipment, and Frontwave Limited, a company that offers medical logistics and supply chain services.

As reported by NewsWireNGR, her personal fortune has not been accurately estimated, but her company Emzor Pharmaceuticals, which has a revenue of N25.98 billion as of December 2019.

The savvy businesswoman maintains a modest profile. She does, however, have a large number of assets, including automobiles and homes.

The business has grown significantly over the years to rank among the largest pharmaceutical enterprises in Nigeria with over 140 distinct products, including antimalarials, vitamins, haematinics, cardioprotective medications, and antibiotics.

Emzor presently maintains offices throughout West Africa, including Ghana, Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and even Asia (India).

Stella Oduah

Princess Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi was born on January 5, 1962, 

She hails from Akili-Ozizo of Ogbaru, Local Government Area of Anambra State.

After graduation from the university where she bagged a degree in Accounting in 1982, she returned to Nigeria in 1983 to join the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Stella Odua, who had a flair for business, left her position at the NNPC in 1992 to create her own company. The Sea Petroleum & Gas Company Limited (SPG), a free-standing marketer of petroleum products in Nigeria, was afterwards founded by her.

Oduah was appointed and confirmed as Minister of Aviation on July 4, 2011. She was, however, relieved of her duties as Minister of Aviation in February 2014 after almost three years in that capacity. 

This was as a result of her activities in the highly inflated purchase of BMW bullet-proof cars for the sum of $1.6 million. without following due process.

She consequently participated in President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2011 campaign from the beginning. She was assigned as the Director of Admin and Finance, and she held that position throughout the general campaign. 

She then had a significant impact thanks to her extensive experience. She won the hearts of many Nigerians during the process because of the role she played.

In the general election on March 28, 2015, Stella Odua won a seat to represent Anambra North in the Upper Chambers of the Nigerian National Assembly in the general election.

She currently serves as a sitting Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. representing Anambra North Senatorial District 

She is a multi-business owner in addition to politics. Her businesses include Sea Petroleum and Gas Company Limited, Rotary Engineering Services Limited, and Tour Afrique Company Limited. Sea Shipping Agency Limited.

Stella reported net worth is an estimated $600 million. 

Ngozi Okonjo

Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is an entrepreneur, investor, economist, international development specialist, and business giant.

She currently serves as the DG of the Worl Trade Organization. The first Nigerian to serve in that capacity.

She also formerly served as the World Bank’s director general.

Ngozi was born on the 13th of  June 1954, in Ogwashio-Ukwu, Delta State, 

She is a graduate of Economics from the prestigious Oxford University.

Okonjo-Iweala began her career as a World Bank Group intern. After earning her degree, she went back to the World Bank Group and spent many years there as a development economist. She served as vice president and corporate secretary.

As a development economist for the World Bank for 25 years, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala rose through the ranks to hold the position of No. 2 Managing Director from 2007 to 2011.

In 2003 she returned to Nigeria to serve as the Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2015.

Okonjo-Iweala was put forth by Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Nigeria, for the job of WTO director-general in 2020. 

Ngozi Okonjo is reportedly worth more than $550 million.

Madueke

Diezani Alison-Madueke is a Nigerian Politician and a former president of OPEC. the first female in that capacity.

She was born on the 6 December 1960, in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

She’s a graduate of Architecture from Howard University in the United States.

After her education, In 1992, she returned to Nigeria to work with Shell Petroleum Development Corporation in the Lagos office’s estates division.

Prior to her promotion to the position of Head of Civil Infrastructures and subsequent appointment as Head of Corporate Issues and Crisis Management Unit in 1997, she also worked as an architectural consultant.

In 2006, Alison-Madueke rose to become an Executive Director at Shell, making her the first-ever female Executive Director in that capacity

Alison has served Nigeria in different capacities as the Transportation Minister in 2007, Minister of Mines and Steel Development in 2008, and finally Minister for Petroleum Resources in 2010 

Alison has been caught in different web of controversies during her period as a government official. She’s been accused of embezzlement, corruption and other financial offences.

Diezani Alison-Madueke is reported to have an estimated net worth of $150 million but this cannit be independently verified.

Diezani Alison-Madueke wears pricey undergarments. She owns the world’s most costly bras which were discovered by the Nigerian government in October 2021.

Linda Ikeji

Linda Ikeji is a Nigerian author, blogger, businesswoman, and ex-model. Born on the  19th of September 1980.

She is a native of Nkwerre in Nigeria’s Imo state. 

After completing her college degree in 2004, she launched her blog (lindaikejiblog) in 2006 as a hobby before becoming more active in 2007 as the money began to pour in.

The well-known blogger Linda Ikeji spent N500 million on a Villa in one of Ikoyi, Lagos’ most affluent neighbourhoods, called Banana Island, in 2016.

The home reportedly had a value of $2 billion as of 2020 (although no reputable wealth estimator platform verified this).

The property Linda Ikeji purchased is a six-bedroom mansion with two-storey ensuite bathrooms on each of the top three floors.

Her net worth is estimated to be worth about $40 million.