Femi Otedola’s Upcoming Autobiography: How the Billionaire Made It

Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola is set to inaugurate a brand new chapter in his already storied lifestyles this time, in his hold phrases.

In his lengthy-awaited autobiography, the 62-year-frail businessman and philanthropist plans to fragment the fat arc of his upward push from his early days at his father’s printing press to changing into one amongst Africa’s most influential entrepreneurs in energy and finance.

Otedola’s announcement has stirred excitement, especially amongst young Nigerians hungry for real-world business wisdom. 

But this guide is no longer excellent a spotlight reel of business wins; it guarantees an intimate see into the dangers, sacrifices, and defining moments that formed his legacy.

“I’ve walked this direction myself, dealing with challenges and breakthroughs that formed no longer excellent my profession, but my outlook on what it methodology to be successful,” Otedola only in the near past wrote on his social media pages.

This isn’t excellent a billionaire flexing his success, it’s a person reflecting on a lifetime of spirited decisions and richly deserved lessons.

From printing ink to petroleum

Femi Otedola’s memoir doesn’t inaugurate in an organization boardroom or at an elite international university. It begins in Lagos, born into a political household, his father, Sir Michael Otedola, turned into as soon as governor of Lagos Impart. 

As a young person, he worked at his father’s printing press, studying the basics of business and work ethic lengthy sooner than he made his first expansive break.

By the Nineties, in the course of Nigeria’s turbulent financial duration, Otedola launched Centerforce Puny, a finance and funding company. But it undoubtedly turned into in 1999 at age 37 that he made a plucky leap into Nigeria’s chaotic petroleum change. 

He founded Zenon Petroleum and Gas Puny, a transfer many thought turned into too unhealthy. It turned out to be a masterstroke.

Otedola realized early that controlling the present chain turned into wanted. So, in 2001, he founded Seaforce Shipping Company Puny, a response to the international dominance in the transport business. 

Inside of six years, Seaforce had grown into Nigeria’s absolute most realistic privately-owned transport firm, boasting a like a flash with over 150,000 metric plenty of ability. 

The names of his ships, Mt. Sir Michael, Mt. Woman Doja, Mt. Nana honored those closest to him, a reminder that even in business, his roots mattered.

How he modified into Nigeria’s diesel king

By the mid-2000s, Zenon controlled extra than 90% of Nigeria’s diesel market. That’s no longer a typo. Most famous avid gamers fancy Dangote Community, MTN, Nestlé, and Coca-Cola relied on his present chain to delight in their machines running and lights on.

In 2004, he doubled down, investing over ₦15 billion to expand storage depots and perform four new gasoline-carrying ships. That same year, he bought 100 tanker vehicles to push gasoline distribution into all corners of the nation. His plucky, infrastructure-heavy technique cemented Zenon’s dominance.

In 2007, he secured a $1.5 billion syndicated loan from ten Nigerian banks, the assemble of financing that will likely well intimidate even seasoned CEOs to fabricate Africa’s absolute most realistic PMS storage facility. 

Then got here his acquisition of African Petroleum, which he rebranded as Uniqueness Oil. By 2008, his stake alone turned into worth over $1.2 billion. At age 46, he joined the Forbes billionaires list, exclusively the 2d Nigerian after Aliko Dangote to fabricate so.

The vitality pivot

But Otedola isn’t one to face unruffled. In 2013, he made a important shift into Nigeria’s vitality sector, acquiring a 414-megawatt vitality plant in the course of the federal authorities’s privatization of electrical energy property. 

This acquisition led to the starting up of Geregu Energy Plc, now one amongst Nigeria’s high vitality producers.

In 2018, he exited the downstream oil business, promoting off Uniqueness Oil and focusing exclusively on energy generation and finance, two sectors he believes are wanted for Nigeria’s lengthy-term financial future.

His instincts had been reveal on. Geregu Energy’s accumulate profit rose from ₦24.4 billion in 2023 to ₦41.27 billion in 2024, exhibiting every boost and steadiness. The Nigerian Alternate even named Geregu the Most Compliant Listed Company of the Year, a nod to its real governance.

How Otedola constructed his future with FirstHoldco

In latest years, Otedola has turned his consideration to the financial sector. As chairman of FirstHoldco Plc, the maintaining firm of First Bank of Nigeria, he’s now guidance one amongst the nation’s oldest establishments into a brand new expertise.

In 2024, FirstHoldco posted inaccurate earnings of over $2 billion and reported total property of $17.46 billion. Below his management, the bank has begun constructing a towering new 44-memoir headquarters in Eko Atlantic, signaling a original, ambitious chapter in its history. 

The groundbreaking match drew some of Nigeria’s absolute most realistic names, including Vice President Kashim Shettima and Aliko Dangote.

He has a legacy that presents relief

Otedola’s memoir isn’t excellent about gathering wealth, it’s about affect. In 2019, he donated a document-breaking $14 million to Attach the Kids U.Okay., the absolute most realistic single donation ever made by a Nigerian.

The gift wasn’t excellent a headline—it mirrored his philosophy about success. “In my lifestyles, in my creep, I in actuality non-public taken the risk, I in actuality non-public completed the move, I in actuality non-public enjoyed the thrill, I in actuality non-public carried out success and recognition. What next? You give it relief,” he acknowledged.

Now, at 62, Otedola says he’s ready to present an explanation for the memoir at the relief of the numbers. His autobiography is no longer going to exclusively stroll readers thru his business decisions, this also can spotlight his mindset, the failures he realized from, and the values that guided him.

It’s a message aimed squarely at Nigeria’s next generation of entrepreneurs, founders, and dreamers: yes, the system is tricky then as soon as more it’s no longer very unlikely.

In a nation the put aside the odds normally feel stacked, Femi Otedola’s memoir is proof that plucky vision, disciplined execution, and the willingness to rob dangers can unruffled shape destinies. And quickly, thanks to this upcoming guide, we’ll accumulate to discover how he did it page by page, from the man himself.