In today’s Nigerian business community, there are some Chief Executive Officers who are quite prominent. One of them is Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa, the man who is currently Group CEO of Forte Oil Plc. Thanks to the prestige associated with the business empire he oversees, Mr. Akinfemiwa is one of the most important and recognisable corporate personalities both within and outside Nigeria.
Then again, the reputation which Mr. Akinfemiwa now has is one that has been meticulously built over the years. As an experienced professional, he is a good example of someone who has worked his way up the corporate ladder to reach the zenith of his career, at least for the meantime. Today, he is an inspiration to many young and aspiring business executives who hope to someday become like him when they grow up.
For this week’s corporate personality on Nairametrics, we have chosen to feature Mr. Akinfemiwa because he is qualified. Get to know him, his academic career, his early days as a young professional, and the journey that has brought him to where he is today. This article will also give you some insight into his level of wealth, as well as his shareholdings in the company.
About Mr. Akinfemiwa’s academic background
Mr. Akinfemiwa studied at Nigeria’s premier university, the University of Ibadan, graduating in 1995 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Later, in the year 2000, he graduated with a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA in Information Technology) from the Hull Business School of the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside. He is also an alumnus of the University of Oxford, having studied at the Saïd Business School.
Akinfemiwa’s entire career at a glance
His early career days can be traced back to the early 2000s when he was a Business Process Analyst at FSB International Bank Plc. Here, he also functioned as a sub-team leader on FSB International Bank’s Business Transformation Project in 2001.
By 2002, Mr. Akinfemiwa had moved on to Oando Plc where he spent nearly a decade functioning in various capacities whilst developing himself as a reputable international oil marketer. For instance, he was an Executive Assistant to the Deputy Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer at Oando for a year. Between 2003 and 2006, he served as a Products and Derivatives Trader at Oando Supply and Trading Limited. It should be noted that this is the role that really helped develop Mr. Akinfemiwa’s career as an oil marketer of international repute because it enabled him to play a key role in developing strategic trading and supply relationships between Oando Plc and important markets, especially within the West African Sub Region.
Following his stint at Oando Plc, Mr. Akinfemiwa eventually moved on to Fineshade Energy Limited where he served as a Director in charge of Trading and Business Development for three years; between 2006 and 2009. He would later pitch his tent at Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, working as the company’s Group Chief Operating Officer.
Thanks to his accomplished track record as an international petroleum trader, Mr. Akinfemiwa was appointed in 2012 as Forte Oil Plc’s new Group Chief Executive Officer. Here, it is his function to come up with the strategic direction and execution policies that will ensure that Forte Oil and its subsidiaries maintain profitability. As always, we examined the company’s financial records to see how well he has actualised this function.
A look at the company’s performance under Mr. Akinfemiwa’s leadership
It is safe to say that the company’s financial performance has improved considerably since 2012, though growth has not been consistent. At the end of FY 2012 for example, the company reported a N1 billion profit after tax, which is a good thing considering that just a year before, it recorded a loss after tax of N15 billion.
The improvement continued in 2013 when a turnover of N128 billion with a profit after tax of N5 billion was reported. In 2014, the turnover was N170, although profit after tax declined to N4.4 billion. However, profit after tax bounced back to N5.7 billion in 2015, but turnover declined to N124 billion.
2016 marked the company’s worst performance under Mr. Akinfemiwa’s leadership. This is because though revenue stood at N148 billion, profit after tax declined to an abysmal N2.89 billion. Fortunately, profit bounced back to an all-time high of N12.2 billion in 2017, with a reported revenue of N129 billion.
So far in 2018, the prospects of a good financial year report abound because Forte Oil’s Q3 report shows revenue at N94 billion, as against N68 billion in Q3 2017, and a profit after tax of N9.1 billion, compared to N5 billion in Q3 2017.
In conclusion, here is a look at his executive compensation
It is not surprising that Mr. Akinfemiwa is one of the highest paid Chief Executive Officers in Nigeria. As we reported earlier, findings by Nairametrics revealed that he earns as much as N181 million per annum. Asides that, Mr. Akinfemiwa also owns a stake in Forte Oil Plc. According to information contained in the company’s 2017 financial report, his direct shareholding stood at 24,000 as at December 2017.
