The chairman of First HoldCo Plc, one of the largest banking and financial services firms in Africa, has now lost Forbes’s designation as Africa’s poorest billionaire, given the year-to-date surge in his net worth.
Currently, the same index lists Femi Otedola’s net worth at $2 billion, making him the world’s 2115 richest person.
Compared to the beginning of the year, when he was worth $1.3 billion, Femi Otedola is now worth more than fellow African billionaires such as Egypt’s Samih Sawiris and Yasseen Mansour, both of whom have net worths listed at $1.4 billion as of today, and Youssef Mansour, worth $1.8 billion.
Other African billionaires that Femi Otedola is currently richer than include Morocco’s Othman Benjelloun & family ($1.7 billion), Aziz Akhannouch & family ($1.6 billion), Anas Sefrioui & family ($1.4 billion), South Africa’s Christoffel Wiese ($1.9 billion), and Paul Van Zuydam ($1.7 billion).
Femi Otedola’s growing fortune
The Nigerian billionaire was not included in Forbes’ billionaires list last year, underlining the magnitude of his financial return in 2026.
The surge in his net worth can be directly attributed to his expanding influence at First HoldCo, driven by an aggressive share acquisition strategy over the past two years.
In 2021, Otedola became First HoldCo’s largest stakeholder, and he took over as chairman in January 2024.
By July 15, 2026, the value of his shareholding had increased to almost $530 million when the company’s shares rose 9.98% in a single trading session to a record N79.35.
First HoldCo has also improved its financial performance, reporting a $303 million profit for the first nine months of the current fiscal year, aided by higher interest income and recapitalization activities aimed at extending its pan-African banking operations.
A report in August showed that Femi Otedola had moved closer to owning 30% of the company after another multimillion-dollar share purchase.
He acquired 95.7 million First HoldCo shares through Calvados Global Services Limited at ₦131.48 each, according to a regulatory disclosure filed with the Nigerian Exchange at the time.
The transaction was worth ₦12.58 billion, approximately $9 million, and increased his interest in the company from 27.49% to 27.70%, implying that Otedola now owns about 12.14 billion shares in First HoldCo.
