The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has announced plans to increase the facility’s refining capacity from 500,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day by early 2029.
He also assured Nigerians, including small-scale investors and low-income earners, that they would be accommodated in the refinery’s ongoing initial public offering (IPO), promising dollar-denominated returns on investment.
Dangote disclosed this on Monday, October 12, while speaking virtually at the final IPO roadshow, themed “Back to Where It All Began,” organised by the Financial Derivatives Company in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He projected significant growth in the refinery’s petrochemical operations, with plans to produce at least 2.5 million tonnes of polyolefin and 400,000 metric tonnes of linear alkylbenzene.
He stated, “By 2029 beginning, we will be at 1.4 million barrels per day. That is a total of 10 per cent of America’s total refining capacity. We will be at 2.5 million tonnes of polyolefin, which is the largest ever in African history.”
Addressing concerns about the reported oversubscription of the IPO, Dangote assured smaller investors that they would be prioritised.
“Most of the smaller people who are bidding for 50,000 shares and below will definitely be sure that we accommodate all of them,” he said.
He defended the offer price of N525 per share, describing it as attractive and expressing confidence that the company could exceed its projected full-year earnings.
“I think it’s an extremely very, very good price,” he stated, adding that investors could potentially more than double their investments within two and a half years.
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In his keynote address, the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, urged Nigerians to use the IPO to become investors in strategic national infrastructure.
He projected that the listing could push Nigeria’s capital market capitalisation above N220 trillion, describing the offering as Africa’s largest IPO.
Rewane urged Nigerians to move beyond being consumers and become investors, saying, “Make that transition from being a citizen to becoming a citizen plus an investor.”
Also speaking, the Founder/CEO of the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the investment would strengthen Nigeria’s economy through industrialisation, job creation, reduced fuel imports and improved foreign exchange stability.
He added that the refinery would support industries such as petrochemicals, packaging and plastics while broadening public participation in the capital market.
Meanwhile, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Paul Usoro, urged residents of the South-South and Niger Delta to invest in the refinery, stressing the importance of Nigerians owning stakes in industries built around the country’s natural resources.
Usoro, who disclosed that he had invested, recalled the long petrol queues experienced before the refinery began operations.
He said, “That is that we have a stake in what happens as far as the Dangote Refinery is concerned,” Usoro stated.