Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, has announced that Nigerians will be able to purchase shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery within the next four to five months, with the option to receive dividends in either naira or dollars.
The disclosure came on Saturday during a landmark visit by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Engr. Bayo Bashir Ojulari, accompanied by members of the company’s board and executive management team. The visit marked the first official tour of the facility by senior NNPC management since the new leadership took over.
Describing the occasion as “our best day ever,” Dangote emphasised that the NNPC is not merely a visitor but a significant stakeholder in the refinery. The state-owned energy company currently holds a 7.25 per cent stake in the 650,000 barrels-per-day facility on behalf of Nigerians.
“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 billionaire businessman stressed that individual Nigerians would soon have the opportunity for direct ownership, building on the NNPC’s existing stake on their behalf.
“They 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.”
Reiterating a previous promise, Dangote confirmed that shareholders would have flexibility in how they receive returns on their investment.
“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.”
Strategic Partnership Beyond Refining
Beyond the share sale announcement, Dangote outlined plans for deeper collaboration with the NNPC extending into upstream oil and gas operations.
“Most likely, depending on our own discussions with them, we will partner with them maybe in some of the upstream,” he said. “They too, they will partner with us here because here is not a refinery. It’s an industrial hub.”
Dangote highlighted the refinery’s broader 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 entire African continent.
“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,” Dangote explained. “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.”
The visit signals a new phase of collaboration between the two organisations, with the NNPC’s first official tour of the facility under its new management suggesting a strengthening relationship between the state-owned energy firm and Africa’s largest refinery.
