3 businesses owned by Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola that you probably didn’t know

Nigerian billionaire, businessman, and philanthropist, Femi Otedola, recently made waves due to a significant increase in his wealth; which stemmed from the performance of his business interests, including the outstanding performance of his power-generating company, Geregu Power Plc.

His stake in the rapidly growing company solidifies his status as one of the wealthiest people and a leading private sector player within the power industry of the African continent.

Since the long-awaited listing of Geregu Power on October 5, his fortune has grown in leaps and bounds, and his stake in the company has been estimated at almost $2 billion.

Despite dropping from the Forbes Billionaires List in 2017 and almost committing suicide for losing $480m in his diesel business in 2008, the business mogul has bounced back as one of Africa’s billionaires. According to the wealth tracking report by Billionaires Africa, his stake has surged by more than $900 million in 2023 alone.

The recently published audited financial report by Geregu Power showed that Otedola’s company, Amperion Power Distribution Company, holds an impressive 95.56 percent stake in the power generation company.

His stake in Geregu Power has experienced a remarkable surge in market value since the beginning of 2023 – rising by N420.5 billion ($920 million), from N355.9 billion ($772.9 million) on January 1, to N776.4 billion ($1.7 billion) as at the time of this report. This places him in the league of a few African billionaires with over 1.5 billion stakes in publicly listed companies.

To reinforce his position in the energy sector, Otedola recently approached the Lagos State, under the Public and Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, to build a power transmission plant; capitalizing on the opportunities created by the newly signed Nigerian Electricity Law, which grants each state the authority to generate and transmit its electricity.

Geregu Power currently owns three natural gas-fired power plants, generating a combined capacity of 435 megawatts, and the company plans to boost its total capacity from 435 megawatts to 1,300 megawatts in the next two years.

The former Founder and Chairman of Forte Oil continues to wield significant influence in Africa’s economic landscape with his investments in multiple sectors.

In recognition of the Nigerian billionaire’s business acumen, here are three notable companies owned by Femi Otedola.

Geregu Power Plc

Femi Otedola is the Chairman of Geregu Power, which achieved a significant milestone as the first electricity-generating company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in October 2022. Through his company, Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited, Otedola holds an impressive 90 percent stake in Geregu Power.

Established by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the power plant was commissioned in 2007 to “generate electric power and supply to the National Grid managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).”

First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc (FBNH)

Femi Otedola acquired a 7.6 percent interest in Nigeria’s oldest bank, FBNH, in 2021 and held the top spot of the Group’s ownership until he was recently displaced from the position by another Nigerian billionaire and business tycoon, Oba Otudeko – who owns a 13 percent holding in the corporation, Nigeria’s Premium Times reported.

However, Otedola currently owns a 5.6 percent stake in FBNH – which is ranked among the top five financial service providers in Nigeria; and was also appointed as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Bank in July.

Zenon Petroleum & Gas Limited

In 2003, Otedola founded Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd., a company focused on marketing and distributing petroleum products. As the owner and chairman of Zenon, he invested N15 billion ($120 million at the time) in developing downstream infrastructure and acquiring storage depots with a combined capacity of 147,000 metric tonnes.