Aliko Dangote
Femi Otedola was born in 1962 in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, western Nigeria, into the family of the late Sir Michael Otedola. His father was a prominent Nigerian who served as the Governor of Lagos State between 1992 and 1993. Otedola has been known with his entrepreneur spirit right from when he was a kid. In the late 1980s he ran the marketing for his family’s printing press before going on to trade petroleum products
In 1985, Femi Otedola completed his degree program at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
In 2003, having identified an opportunity in the fuel retail market, Otedola secured the finance to set up Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, a petroleum products marketing and distribution company.
As owner and chairman of Zenon, in 2004 he invested N15 billion in downstream infrastructure development and acquired storage depots at Ibafon, Apapa as well as four cargo vessels, amounting to a combined total storage capacity of 147,000 metric tonnes. The same year he acquired a fleet of 100 DAF fuel-tanker trucks for N1.4 billion.
By 2005 Zenon controlled a major share of the Nigerian diesel market, supplying fuel to most of the major manufacturers in the country including Dangote Group, Cadbury, Coca Cola, Nigerian Breweries, MTN, Unilever, Nestle and Guinness.
In March 2007 it was announced that ten banks had approved a syndicated loan of US$1.5 billion (N193.5 billion) to Zenon as working capital to build the largest premium motor spirit storage facility in Africa. Later that year Zenon acquired a 28.7 per cent stake in African Petroleum, one of Nigeria’s largest fuel marketers. Zenon also invested across the financial sector, becoming the largest shareholder in a number of Nigerian banks including Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA). As well as diesel, Zenon also became an important player in the kerosene market.
In 2012 Zenon was among a number of companies named in a report into an alleged fuel subsidy scam. According to the report Zenon owed the government $1.4m. It was further reported that Farouk Lawan, the Nigerian legislator who compiled the report, had apparently been filmed collecting $500,000 of a supposed total sum of $3m from Femi Otedola to remove Zenon from the list. It subsequently emerged that Otedola had previously reported Lawan’s harassment and demands for bribes to the State Security Services, who had orchestrated a sting operation. Lawan was charged with corruption in February 2013
In 2007 Femi Otedola was appointed chairman and chief executive of Africa Petroleum through the acquisition of a controlling stake in the business. In December that year he personally acquired a further 29.3 per cent of the company for N40 billion. A merger of this personal holding with Zenon’s brought Otedola’s total stake to 55.3 per cent.
Following Otedola’s entry into the company African Petroleum’s share price rose sharply, increasing the market capitalisation from N36 billion to N217 billion in six months. In 2008, in response to public concerns over the availability and pricing of kerosene, African Petroleum launched an initiative to saturate the market and sell the fuel at N50 per litre from more than 500 service stations across Nigeria.
In March 2009 Femi Otedola became the second Nigerian after Aliko Dangote to appear on the Forbes list of dollar denominated billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion. In October 2009 Otedola announced a move to upgrade African Petroleum’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage terminals in Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt. Difficult economic conditions caused by the slump in world oil prices and credit squeeze of 2008–09 led African Petroleum to record a loss in 2009.
In December 2010 African Petroleum rebranded, changing its name to Forte Oil Plc. Femi Otedola carried out a restructuring of the business, focusing on technology and improved corporate governance. Forte Oil returned to profit in 2012.
In 2013, as part of the Federal Government’s push to liberalise Nigeria’s ailing power sector, Femi Otedola financed 57% of Forte Oil subsidiary Amperion Ltd, which acquired the 414 MW Geregu Power Plant for $132 million.
Forte’s improved financial position and diversification into power generation resulted in a 1,321 per cent rise in its share price during 2013. The first half of 2014 saw the company’s pre-tax profit more than double year-on-year to 4.19 billion naira ($25.7 million). Revenue growth for the whole year was 33 per cent. In November 2014 Otedola returned to the Forbes rich list having dropped off it following the fall in share price during 2009.
In September 2015 Forte Oil sold 17 per cent of its equity to Swiss commodity trader Mercuria Energy Group, giving Forte access to global commodity markets. The deal was thought to have given Femi Otedola an estimated $200 million.
In 2005 Femi Otedola made a N300 million personal donation to the completion of the National Ecumenical Center – Nigeria’s primary place of Christian worship in Abuja.
In 2007 he was among a group of donors who gave N200 million to the State Security Trust Fund in a drive to reduce crime in Lagos State.
Femi Otedola has made several donations to the Michael Otedola University Scholarship Scheme, which was established in 1985 to give underprivileged students in Lagos State access to higher education.
In 2008 he donated N80 million to the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Port Harcourt.
He believes in God and miracles. There was a time he suffered from heart disease. He was healed by a church known as Omega Power Ministry in Nigeria.
Although Femi Otedola is not interested in getting political post through election, h has contributed a lot to the government of Nigeria. He has assisted in improving the level of education in Nigeria through donations for the construction of infrastructures and he also renders assistance to the less privilege who intend going to school but lack financial wherewithal.
Quotations: “To me, it is funny when people say I was down. It is like when a child is trying to walk, the child must fall down, but it doesn’t mean that the child will never walk again. So if God has great plans for you, he has to teach you how to crawl before you learn how to walk. There is no successful businessman today that has not gone through the ups and downs.”
Femi is widely known for his entrepreneur spirit. He started his first company when he was just 8 years old which he called FEMCO, where he cut the nails of his father’s friends and would they pay him and he would issue them receipts. He would later ask his father to buy him a briefcase. According to Otedola, he just loved carrying it, even though many of his friends in school would laugh at him.
Physical Characteristics: He is a black man
He is married, and has a son and three daughters
