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Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola has pledged another ₦2.85 billion to complete a new engineering building at Augustine University, where he is chancellor.
Billionaire Femi Otedola is buying Dangote Cement shares again as the stock surged 10%, while his First HoldCo stake gained $119 million.
First HoldCo, the FirstBank parent chaired by billionaire Femi Otedola, grew nine-month pre-tax profit 61% to 911 billion naira on strong fee and trading income.
Femi Otedola hosted Aliko Dangote and Abdul Samad Rabiu at a dinner honouring Obafemi Hamzat, the ruling party's candidate for Lagos governor in 2027.
Five African billionaires, including Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Femi Otedola, hold stakes worth about $14 billion in four of Africa's biggest banks.
Femi Otedola gained about $815 million in the third quarter as First HoldCo shares rose 180% while he spent 351 billion naira on more stock.
Femi Otedola had a private dinner with President Bola Tinubu in Paris on Sept. 28 and publicly endorsed his economic reforms the next day.
Dangote, Adenuga, Rabiu and Otedola are running versions of the playbooks Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie and Morgan used to build America.
First HoldCo rose 10% to N162.80 on Friday morning, a record, adding about N182.6 billion to Femi Otedola's stake in a single session.
First HoldCo posted a 31.63% return on average equity in the first quarter, the highest of any tier-1 bank in Nigeria or South Africa.
Forbes puts Aliko Dangote at $51.3 billion on Sept. 14, against $21.1 billion for Abdulsamad Rabiu, Mike Adenuga and Femi Otedola combined.
FirstHoldCo has joined the FTSE Frontier 50 index, with chairman Femi Otedola calling it a defining milestone for the banking group.
FirstHoldCo and Dangote Cement join the FTSE Frontier 50, a far more selective index than the broader series 10 Nigerian firms entered.
Ten Nigerian stocks join FTSE Russell's frontier index on Sept. 21, including companies part-owned by Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola and Victor Odili.
FTSE Russell named 10 Nigerian stocks newly eligible for its frontier index series, including Dangote Cement, First HoldCo and MTN Nigeria.
First HoldCo hit an all-time high of N159.90 on Tuesday, lifting Femi Otedola's holding to about N1.97 trillion, roughly $1.42 billion.