Dangote creates an opening for investors as he plans to sell 10% of his refinery shares

To attract more investment into the Dangote Oil Refinery and bolster capital, Aliko Dangote, during an interview with S&P Global, revealed that he plans to sell 5% to 10% of his stake in the facility.

The Nigerian billionaire also disclosed that the partial listing will follow the same format employed by his other subsidiaries, including Dangote Sugar and Dangote Cement, which are quoted on the Nigerian Exchange.

“We don’t want to keep more than 65 to 70 per cent. Shares will be offered incrementally, depending on investor appetite and market depth,” he stated.

Dangote’s stake sale declaration is concurrent with his recent announcement regarding his intention to more than double his oil refining operations, thereby increasing production capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.

“We have to build the refinery again, either here or somewhere else. But really, somewhere else is not possible because we’d have to go and spend so much building infrastructure, and we have the infrastructure already here,” Dangote stated.

During the interview, Dangote also mentioned a potential rise in his stake in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s (NNPC) Limited, as seen on Vanguard.

“I want to demonstrate what this refinery can do, then we can sit down and talk,” he said.

After the refinery’s next growth phase starts, Dangote said, more talks might be held. Previously, the national oil company had lowered its shareholding to 7.2 percent.

Situated in Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos, the Dangote Oil Refinery is the biggest in Africa and among the largest worldwide.

The Dangote Group built the $20 billion factory, which currently has the capacity to refine up to 650,000 barrels of crude oil each day.

In order to lessen Nigeria’s reliance on fuel imports, it was formally put into service in May 2023 with the goal of making the country self-sufficient in refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and kerosene.

Once fully operational, it has the potential to transform Nigeria from a major importer of refined petroleum products to a net exporter, saving billions of dollars in foreign cash each year and creating thousands of jobs.

However, despite its potential, the refinery has suffered logistical, regulatory, and supply issues that have slowed full-scale operations.