Aliko Dangote, president and chief executive officer of the Dangote Group, has disclosed that Nigerians will soon have the opportunity to purchase shares in the Dangote refinery.
He made this known while addressing journalists during a facility tour in Lagos. The visit involved Bayo Ojulari, group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), alongside members of the company’s management.
Dangote said Nigerians could begin to buy shares directly within the next four to five months.
“And the other issue is that they (NNPC) are holding 7.25 percent of the shares that we have here, which is more than the shares Elon Musk has in Tesla. And they are holding that on behalf of Nigerians,” he said.
“So individually, Nigerians too will have an opportunity in the next maybe maximum four to five months. There will actually be an opportunity to buy the shares.”
He also explained that investors would be allowed to receive dividends either in naira or in dollars. He noted that the refinery generates earnings in foreign currency.
Speaking about the visit of the NNPC delegation, Dangote described the day as significant for the refinery. He added that the national oil company should be seen as a partner and shareholder rather than just a visitor.
“I know NNPC invested in us when we were not really sure whether the refinery would be successful,” Dangote said.
“So that’s the kind of level of confidence. But right now, the relationship with the new set of people that we have at NNPC, 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.”
Dangote also spoke on possible collaboration with NNPC in the upstream oil sector. He said discussions are ongoing and may lead to joint operations.
“we have a block 71, 72 but we’re going to look much deeper”.
“Most likely, depending on our own discussions with them, we will partner with them maybe in some of the upstream,” Dangote said.
“They too will partner with us here because here is not just a refinery, it’s an industrial hub.
“And that’s why we’re doing linear alkaline benzene, which is raw material for detergent.”
He further revealed that the refinery plans to produce enough raw materials for detergent manufacturing to serve the entire African market. He put the projected capacity at 400,000 tonnes. He said this level of production is currently unavailable across the continent.
“The only two are one in Algeria, 100,000 tons and Egypt, 50,000 but we’re going 400,000 tins and we’ll deliver all this in the next 30 months,” Dangote said.
Earlier this month, the refinery announced plans to begin producing surfactants used in detergent manufacturing in Nigeria.
