Connect with us

Business

BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN, FEMI OTEDOLA’S MIDAS TOUCH… OLA KING

Published

on

From the outset, billionaire Femi Otedola has always showcased his shrewdness and brilliance as a businessman.

adron lemon friday

Those who were in doubts had a rethink after he bought over and turned around the moribund African Petroleum, AP, which he rechristened Forte Oil.

Blessed with proven magic wand, he successfully re-jigged the company from its former declining state to a flourishing one that became a brand to beat in the sector.

This, as he has reiterated on several occasions, did not come without a sweat.

He actually toiled and sweated to put the oil company on a competitive edge today.

It was, therefore, understandable that many expressed great shock when news broke that he was planning to sell of his 75% share in the
company.

It was the biggest story not only in the business sector, but also among many across all walks of life.

For those who know him too well, Otedola, it is believed, must have thought it out.

“Femi Otedola is, indeed, a guru in the field. He knows when to invest and he knows when not to. He is an encyclopedia and a cognoscenti in the business world,” a source said.

Just as the story of his Forte Oil sales made the biggest story, his diversification into power is currently a major discourse and enjoying
front cover on the dailies.

For many who don’t know the Lagos State -born business mogul, he is not new in the power sector, he acquired Geregu Power plant in 2013.

It was disclosed that he is only shooting up his stake and giving his all in the sector, just as he did in the oil sector.

A source divulged that with the new billions of Naira he just invested in Geregu Power Plant, he is already giving his rivals sleepless night.

He is fully showcasing his new forte.‘’ With the new funds he injected and his full attention and focus, the power sector in Nigeria will definitely not remain the same again,’’ another source added.

The deep pocket businessman’s life is a challenge to those who were born with the silver spoon but, out of sheer indiscipline and lack of focus, abused the privilege; and his life is also an inspiration for people from humble backgrounds that they should never entomb their dreams, even in the face of adversity. It was gathered that while he was growing up, he had displayed traits of a child destined to be great in life. He was precious to the admiration of all. While growing up, he had nursed a beautiful dream to be one of the greatest businessmen in the world. As a son of a former Lagos State governor, the late Sir Michael Otedola, providence has been magnanimous enough to him. So, many would argue that his paths were already laced with roses because of his background. But what many do not know is that he himself had sowed with sweats. In other words, foundation of his business empire was laid with sweat, determination and hard work. Of course, you cannot rule out the divine grace in his life, a situation that further attests to his first name: Femi (it literally means God loves me).

Many years after he floated his business, he resolved to pursue his dream on a global stage. Though it looked an impossible task, he was determined to pursue his ambition of ruling the world with unwavering doggedness.  Today, the company is not only recognised around the world, but the Lagos State- born has become a shining light in the Africa’s business firmament and has been listed as one of the richest on the continent of Africa.

Continue Reading

Business

Shoreline Group secures US$200 million Afreximbank Facility

Published

on

By

Shoreline Group today announced that African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a US$200 million facility in favour of Shoreline Power Company Limited and co-borrowers including Arkad S.p.A., Shoreline’s majority-owned engineering and construction platform.
Approved in June 2026, the facility was arranged and provided by Afreximbank as sole mandated lead arranger and lender. It provides bonding and working-capital capacity for Arkad’s delivery of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz project and supports Shoreline and its affiliates in developing further pipeline and infrastructure
projects in Nigeria and other permitted jurisdictions.
“This is a defining transaction for Shoreline and Arkad. We built Arkad as an African- sponsored engineering platform capable of competing at the highest level, and it is now delivering against a billion-dollar energy contract. Afreximbank’s US$200 million commitment gives the platform the financial strength to match its engineering capability and pursue further major infrastructure mandates. It demonstrates that African enterprises can assemble the capital, capability and partnerships required to compete for infrastructure at international scale.”
Hassi Bir Rekaiz Phase 2a Arkad holds 44 per cent of the approximately US$1 billion EPCCS-1 contract awarded by Groupement
Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR) to an unincorporated consortium led by Egypt’s Petrojet, which holds 56 percent. EPCCS-1 covers engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up for the Phase 2a central processing facility and related infrastructure at the Hassi Bir Rekaiz field in Algeria’s Berkine
Basin.
GHBR is the joint operating entity for the licence, held by Sonatrach with 51 per cent and Thailand’s PTTEP with 49 per cent. The project includes a new crude oil processing facility with capacity of 31,500 barrels per day, facilities for associated gas and produced-water treatment, approximately 217 kilometres
of pipelines and the brownfield modifications required to integrate existing Phase 1 infrastructure.
The facilities are designed to support later expansion to 63,000 barrels per day under Phase 2b.
“This financing addresses the instruments that determine whether an EPC contractor can execute at scale: performance guarantees, advance payment guarantees and working capital through the project cycle. Hassi Bir Rekaiz is a demanding scope, combining a new central processing facility, associated treatment systems, pipelines and brownfield integration. With Petrojet, and with the support of Shoreline and Afreximbank, Arkad is focused on disciplined delivery against the project’s safety, quality and schedule requirements.”
The transaction was structured under Afreximbank’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction Initiative, which supports African engineering and construction firms with the financial instruments required to compete for and execute large infrastructure contracts. Afreximbank also supported the Arkad-Petrojet partnership through its EPC twinning work at the Intra-African Trade Fair held in Algiers
in 2025.
According to Afreximbank, the transaction is its first support for a Sub-Saharan African contractor undertaking a major infrastructure project in North Africa. For Shoreline, it demonstrates a practical model for combining African ownership and capital with established international engineering andindustrial capability.

adron lemon friday


41
/ 100


SEO Score

Continue Reading

Business

BUSINESSWOMAN AISHA ACHIMUGU SPEAKS OUT, CALLS FOR PROTECTION OF LIFE AND RESPECT FOR RULE OF LAW

Published

on

By

Court

Nigerian businesswoman and investor Aisha Achimugu has made a public appeal for the protection of her life, her family, and her business interests while alleging a sustained campaign of intimidation, media trial, and asset seizures.

adron lemon friday

Achimugu, in a statement Tuesday, said she is facing actions that she described as an affront to the rule of law and natural justice.
She then called for the respect for court orders and for an end to what she termed misleading media coverage about her person and companies.
According to Achimugu, the widow of the late Engr. Sulaiman Achimugu, former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, she has over the last three decades built businesses in the oil and gas and other sectors, and runs the SAM Empowerment Foundation, SEF, which she said has implemented health, education, and community projects across Nigeria.
The businesswoman, however, alleged that since 2023 she has been the subject of investigations and actions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Narrating her ordeals, Achimugu noted that in 2023, the EFCC’s Port Harcourt zonal office froze her personal accounts, her children’s accounts, and company accounts linked to the Felak Group, based on an interim forfeiture order.
She said this was connected to a mistaken association with MBA Forex and Capital Investment.
Achimugu stated that in January 2024 she honoured an EFCC invitation with her counsel, clarified her company’s single transaction with MBA Forex, and refunded N58 million by bank draft to the EFCC recovery account.
In March 2025, the businesswoman said she received WhatsApp messages inviting her to the EFCC Port Harcourt office. Her lawyer responded in writing, proposing dates in April 2025. Despite this, she alleged a media campaign began on March 10, 2025 linking her to wrongdoing.
On March 28, 2025, the same day her company, Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited, submitted proof of $20 million payment to NUPRC for oil blocks PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007, subsequently, she claimed the EFCC declared her a “Wanted Person” for “conspiracy and money laundering.” She also alleged that EFCC operatives searched her home that day.
In April 2025, Achimugu said she filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja. But upon returning to Nigeria on April 28, 2025 from a foreign trip, she alleged she was taken into EFCC custody, granted bail by a judge, but released five days later. She also said her international passport was collected.
She alleged further asset actions, including freezing of bank accounts, and the seizure of vehicles from her home in January 2026. She said matters relating to these actions are the subject of ongoing litigation and appeals.
Achimugu also alleged that her United States visa was revoked in April 2025, and that she encountered issues with visa processing related to her Grenadian citizenship, which she linked to media reports citing the EFCC’s declaration.
Achimugu stated that she has invested nearly $90 million in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in the last five years and has attracted over $100 million in investments into the economy while directly employs close to 200 Nigerians.
However, she said the actions of the anti-graft agency have affected her business operations, international partnerships, and family, including her elderly parents and young children.
Achimugu then called on the National Assembly, the Judiciary, security services, and local and international human rights organizations to examine her case.
She also asked for the protection of her life and properties, respect for court orders, and an end to what she described as a “media trial”.
“I believe that justice delayed is justice denied, and I am not afraid to face the law provided due process is followed. My lawyers are pursuing all legal remedies locally and internationally,” she said.
Achimugu added that she remains committed to Nigeria and to supporting private sector growth.


42
/ 100


SEO Score

Continue Reading

Business

Nigeria’s Credit Crisis: Why Firms Still Struggle for Loans

Published

on

Nigeria

Nigeria’s Credit Crisis deepens as businesses struggle with high lending rates, weak bank credit access and government borrowing despite falling inflation (more…)

adron lemon friday


75
/ 100


SEO Score

Continue Reading

Trending News