Otedola to invest $1bn in Geregu power plant

Femi Otedola, a Nigerian businessman and billionaire, has disclosed plans to shift his focus to power generation.

In a series of tweets on his Twitter page on Saturday, Otedola said his business focus will now be on Geregu power plant.

It is estimated he will invest $1 billion in the power plant.

Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited, a subsidiary of Forte Oil Plc acquired the Geregu power plant in 2013 and invested $94 million in the power plant.

After another $350 million investment in the plant in 2018, Otedola said the acquisition was a sign of his commitment to the federal government’s power sector recovery plan.

Geregu Power Plc was incorporated in November 2006 as one of the unbundled companies from the now-defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

The gas power plant began operations in 2007 with a total installed capacity of 414MW at commissioning.

In December, Otedola had first announced that he would divest his 75% stake in Forte Oil Plc.

The divestment was completed on Wednesday; selling his majority shareholding to Prudent Energy, a local oil trading firm.

Forte Oil, was originally British Petroleum. The federal government took over the oil company during the fight to free South Africa from White minority rule and renamed it African Petroleum Plc.

African Petroleum was privatised to Sodiq Oil before Otedola acquired the company and rebranded it as Forte Oil.