Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist, Femi Otedola, has narrated an ordeal in business.
Otedola revealed how some of his investment left him with “a terrible nightmare” after huge losses due to plunging oil prices, naira devaluation, mounting interests from loans and crashing stocks.
He broke into the Nigerian mega business scene with Zenon Petroleum, which grew from selling diesel in drums to owning the largest share of the local market.
The businessman also acquired African Petroleum in the downstream market and rebranded it to Forte Oil Plc, at a time one of the highest performing in the stock market.
But a diesel shipment he ordered in 2008 when crude oil was $147/barrel did not arrive until the price had crashed to $40, throwing him into massive debt.
As a result of falling forex inflow, the naira was also devalued from N120/dollar to N167 in 2009, presenting him with a double whammy: low diesel price and high dollar liability.
In his upcoming book, ‘Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business’, published by FO Books and slated for release on August 18, 2025, the investor explained that banks which used pretty ladies to market investments later resorted to sending intimidating-looking men to besiege his house.
“All told, I lost more than US$480 million to the plunge in oil prices, US$258 million through the devaluation of the naira, US$320 million because of accruing interest, and another US$160 million when the stocks crashed,” TheCable quoted him as writing the excerpts of the book.
“It was devastating, like a terrible nightmare, but a nightmare would have been better: day would break, and I would wake up. There was no waking up from this.
“One moment, I was the darling of the banks, who did everything in the world to court me, do business with me, give me loans, take deposits from me. They would send bewitching ladies to make their offers more convincing, and now I was waking up to the sight of hefty, barrel-chested men standing menacingly in front of my gate, waiting for the moment I’d step out of my compound.”
The book has attracted accolades from Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of World Trade Organization (WTO); Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group and Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, Samuel Adedoyin, Founder and Chairman of the Doyin Group of Companies, and Arunma Oteh, Former Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank Treasury.
