KEY POINTS
- Femi Otedola recounts about how he lost all his money.
- The crash of oil prices and the drop in the value of the naira in 2008 were terrible for his firm.
- Otedola’s memoir shows how to be strong in tough times.
In his upcoming memoir, Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business, Nigerian billionaire investor and philanthropist Femi Otedola talks about his stunning fall from grace.
Otedola used to be the most popular person in Nigeria’s banking sector. His company Zenon Petroleum was the biggest player in the market. He also changed the name of African Petroleum to Forte Oil Plc and made it a major player in the country’s downstream sector.
But in 2008, Otedola’s luck took a big turn for the worst when he bought a shipment of diesel at the same time that crude oil prices were at an all-time high of $147 per barrel. When the shipment got there, the price had dropped to $40 per barrel, which meant he would lose a lot of money. The Nigerian currency lost value from N120 to N167 per dollar in 2009, which made things worse and put Otedola farther into debt.
Huge losses and debts that keep mounting
Otedola talks about the huge losses he suffered in his memoir. He says that the drop in oil prices cost him more than $480 million and the drop in the value of the naira cost him another $258 million. The financial problems didn’t stop there; he also had to pay $320 million in interest and $160 million more since the stock market crashed.
Otedola tells a dramatic story about his life, from being wooed by banks to being chased by debt collectors. He talks about how banks, which had been very nice to him before, turned against him when his money problems got worse.
A hard time in the history of Nigerian business
Otedola’s memoir, which will come out on August 18, 2025, gives an honest and unvarnished look at what it’s like to do business in Nigeria, especially when the economy is bad. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Akinwumi Adesina, and Aliko Dangote, all well-known people, have already praised the book. They all see Otedola’s strength and drive to rebuild despite losing almost half a billion dollars.
The book shows how much Otedola lost personally and financially, but it also shows how he was able to get back on his feet and keep going in business.
