President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has announced that Nigerians will have the opportunity to purchase shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery within the next four to five months, with dividends payable in either naira or dollars.
Dangote made the disclosure on Saturday during a high-profile visit by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Engr. Bayo Bashir Ojulari, alongside members of the company’s board and executive management team. The visit marks the first official tour of the facility by senior management of the state-owned energy firm, signalling a new phase of collaboration between both organisations.
Describing the visit as symbolic, Dangote noted that the NNPC is not merely a guest but a key shareholder in the refinery.
“Today is really our best day ever. He’s not just a guest, he’s a shareholder,” Dangote said, referring to Ojulari. “NNPC invested in us even when we were not sure whether the refinery would be successful. That shows the level of confidence.”
The NNPC currently holds a 7.25 per cent stake in the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery on behalf of Nigerians. Dangote emphasised that individual Nigerians would soon be able to participate directly in the ownership structure.
He further reiterated his earlier promise that shareholders would have flexible dividend options.
“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. But individually, Nigerians too will have an opportunity in the next maybe maximum four, five months, they will actually be options to buy their shares.
“And like what I promised before, people will have a choice either to get their dividend in Naira or to get their dividends in dollars because we earn dollars.”
Beyond shareholding, Dangote highlighted plans for deeper strategic collaboration with the NNPC, extending into upstream oil and gas operations.
He said, “Most likely, depending on our own discussions with them (NNPC), we will partner with them maybe in some of the upstream. They too, they will partner with us here because here is not a refinery. It’s an industrial hub.”
Dangote pointed to the refinery’s integrated industrial strategy, including the production of Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB), a key raw material used in detergent manufacturing. According to him, the facility will produce 400,000 tonnes of LAB — a capacity expected to meet demand across the African continent.
He said, “And that’s why we are doing Linear Alkyl Benzene, which is raw material for detergent. And that raw material for detergent will be sufficient for the entire African continent. It’s 400,000 tons, which we don’t have. The only two are one in Algeria, 100,000 tons, and Egypt, 50,000. But we are going 400,000. And we’ll deliver all this in the next 30 months.”
Melissa Enoch
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