Nigerian energy tycoon Femi Otedola, is vacating oil trading to focus on his core business of oil mining. He concluded the sale of his 75% stake in Forte Oil, a listed oil marketing company. The buyer is Prudent Energy, a well known local oil trading firm. Forte Oil announced last year itself that its controlling shareholder, Otedola, was exiting from the company in a disclosure notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). It is rumored that the shares were sold to Prudent Energy at a significant margin to its current value and some people in the know of things claim that the deal has enriched him close to US$ 250 million. The grapevine had it that Otedola has started acquiring power generation and distribution assets in Nigeria. Femi Otedola picked up controlling shares in African Petroleum, a struggling petroleum marketer in 2008 and transformed it into Forte Oil. At its peak in 2015, Forte Oil had a market capitalization of more than US$1.4 billion. Featured on the FORBES list of billionaires in 2015, he has a fortune estimated at US$1.8 billion at that time. His present worth is not known but it is believed to be several notches above that level. He is also one of Nigeria’s most prominent philanthropists and donated $6 million to construct a building at the Augustine University in Epe. In extending healthcare to needy people in Nigeria, his contributions are immense.
