Nigerian executive Funke Ijaiya-Oladipo's UAC stake nears $2.5 million after 89% rally

Funke Ijaiya-Oladipo, the group finance director of UAC of Nigeria Plc, owns a stake in the food and beverage conglomerate now worth about ₦3.39 billion ($2.48 million), after its shares nearly doubled this year.

Ijaiya-Oladipo, who also sits on UAC's board as an executive director, owns 19,694,903 shares, or about 0.7% of the Lagos-based company. UAC shares closed at ₦172 on the Nigerian Exchange on Friday, Nov. 6, valuing her holding at ₦3,387,523,316, according to Billionaires.Africa calculations.

The stock started 2026 at about ₦91, when the same shares were worth about ₦1.79 billion ($1.31 million). The rally has added roughly ₦1.6 billion to the value of her stake in just over 10 months. At the start of 2025, when UAC traded at ₦32.95, the holding was worth about ₦649 million ($475,000).

UAC shares closed at ₦181 on Oct. 30, the day the company released its nine-month results, up 98.9% for the year at that point. They have since given back some ground, falling 7.85% on Nov. 5 in a broad sell-off on the Nigerian Exchange.

The holding also pays her cash. Shareholders approved a dividend of ₦1 a share for 2025 at UAC's annual general meeting in Lagos on June 25, worth about ₦19.7 million ($14,400) on her shares.

Chivita and Hollandia lift results

The rally has been driven by UAC's purchase of CHI Ltd., the maker of Chivita fruit juices and Hollandia dairy drinks and yogurt, from The Coca-Cola Co. UAC paid about ₦182 billion for 100% of the business and completed the deal on Oct. 3, 2025. Stanbic IBTC Capital Ltd., Ijaiya-Oladipo's former employer, advised UAC on the purchase.

With CHI now fully consolidated, UAC's revenue for the nine months through September rose 227.7% to ₦523 billion ($383.2 million), the company said in its results statement on Oct. 30. Pre-tax profit jumped 262.5% to ₦37.69 billion, and profit after tax rose 307.1% to ₦21.91 billion ($16.1 million).

That marked a sharp turn from 2025, when acquisition costs pushed UAC to a pre-tax loss in the third quarter. Full-year revenue that year rose 72.9% to ₦340.5 billion, while pre-tax profit fell 35.7% to ₦16.4 billion.

Debt has come down too. Net debt fell by ₦62.8 billion over the nine months to ₦231 billion, and gross borrowings dropped by ₦82.2 billion to ₦263 billion. The ratio of net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a common measure of how easily a company can carry its borrowings, improved to 2.2 times from 5.9 times at the end of December.

UAC is also selling businesses outside its core consumer focus. On Sept. 24, it agreed to sell its 43% stake in DP World Logistics Ltd., and on Sept. 30 it agreed to sell its 73.29% holding in Livestock Feeds Plc, a listed animal-feed maker. Both sales are subject to regulatory approval.

From Goldman Sachs to Stanbic IBTC

Ijaiya-Oladipo studied at University College London, where she earned a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in project and enterprise management. She is a CFA charterholder, a professional credential for investment analysts that requires passing three exams and several years of work experience.

She began her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in London. She then moved to Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa's biggest lender by assets, where she spent about a decade and worked on more than 25 transactions.

At Standard Bank, she worked in South Africa as a corporate finance manager, arranging cross-border deals. She later joined Stanbic IBTC Capital, the Nigerian investment-banking unit of the Standard Bank group, where she rose to senior vice president and led its equity capital markets division. That team helps companies raise money by selling shares through stock market listings, rights issues and private placements. She also worked on mergers and acquisitions.

Over that period, she advised local and international companies in Nigeria, South Africa and the U.K. on raising equity, buying and selling businesses, restructurings and divestments. She left Stanbic IBTC Capital in early 2020.

Running UAC's finances

She joined UAC in 2020 as a member of its executive committee and head of investor relations, the team that manages the company's relationships with shareholders, analysts and lenders.

UAC, one of Nigeria's oldest conglomerates, is led by Group Managing Director Fola Aiyesimoju and has been refocusing on food, drinks and other consumer goods. Besides CHI, it owns UAC Foods Ltd., the maker of Gala sausage rolls and Supreme ice cream, as well as Grand Cereals Ltd., real estate developer UPDC Plc and a quick-service restaurant business.

In December 2020, UAC's board named Ijaiya-Oladipo chief financial officer, as Ibikunle Oriola stepped down as group finance director at the end of that month. On July 28, 2021, the board appointed her group finance director and gave her a seat on the board as an executive director. On Aug. 31, 2021, she also joined the board of UAC Foods.

After the CHI purchase, her job was to put the enlarged group's finances on a sounder footing. In February, UAC listed a ₦54.03 billion ($39.6 million) seven-year bond on the FMDQ Securities Exchange, Nigeria's main market for corporate debt. The bond pays a fixed 17.35% a year and is the first series under a ₦150 billion borrowing program. The money is being used to refinance existing loans, fund capital spending and support working capital across UAC's food and beverage, real estate, logistics and restaurant businesses.

"The successful issuance reflects strong market confidence in the company's fundamentals and long-term strategy," Ijaiya-Oladipo said at the time. "The bond broadens UAC's funding base, reduces refinancing risk, and better aligns the company's liabilities with its long-term growth plans, particularly in manufacturing and consumer-focused segments."

Outside UAC, she sits on the advisory board of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity Africa, a nonprofit that runs leadership and career programs for young African students and graduates.

Figures were converted at ₦1,365 to the dollar.