By Samuel Adeola
Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has revealed how a crash in global oil prices nearly ruined him financially, wiping out over $1.2 billion and exposing him to the harsh reality of banking relationships.
Otedola, who made his fortune through Zenon Petroleum and later rebranded African Petroleum to Forte Oil, said things fell apart in 2008 after he paid $147 per barrel for diesel, only for prices to crash to $40 before his shipment arrived.
Worse still, the naira plunged from N120 to N167 per dollar, making his dollar loans unbearable.
In his upcoming book, Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business, Otedola said the oil price drop cost him $480m, naira devaluation took $258m, interest charges hit $320m, and stock market losses claimed another $160m.
“It was devastating, like a terrible nightmare, but a nightmare would have been better. There was no waking up from this,” he wrote.
