The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has announced plans to allow Nigerians to invest directly in the Dangote Refinery.
Dangote made the disclosure on Saturday while addressing journalists during a tour of the facility by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Bayo Ojulari, alongside members of the NNPC board and executive management team.
According to him, arrangements are ongoing to enable individuals to purchase shares in the refinery within the next four to five months.
“Individually, Nigerians too will have an opportunity… in the next maximum four or five months, they will actually be able to buy their shares,” Dangote said.
He explained that NNPC currently holds a minority stake in the refinery on behalf of Nigerians.
“They are holding 7.25 per cent of the shares that we have here… and they are holding that on behalf of Nigerians,” he stated.
Dangote added that prospective investors would have the option of receiving dividends either in naira or in dollars, noting that the refinery generates foreign exchange earnings.
“People will have a choice either to get their dividends in naira or to get their dividends in dollars because we earn dollars,” he said.
Beyond plans for public investment, Dangote said the refinery would strengthen collaboration with NNPC to improve operations and explore new opportunities across the oil and gas value chain.
“I think the sky is the limit and we will cooperate and also make sure that we work together to make sure that we make Nigerians proud,” he added.
On possible upstream partnerships, Dangote disclosed that discussions were ongoing.
“Most likely, depending on our discussions with them, we will partner with them, maybe in some of the upstream. They, too, will partner with us here because here is not a refinery. It’s an industrial hub,” he said.
He further revealed that new industrial projects within the complex, including the production of linear alkylbenzene used in detergents, would position the facility as a major supplier across Africa.
“That raw material for detergent will be sufficient for the entire African continent… and we will deliver all this in the next 30 months,” Dangote stated.
