Dangote made the announcement on Saturday while giving members of the press a tour of the refinery.
Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Senior Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), was among those who paid the visit, as were members of the NNPC board and senior management team.
“Individually, Nigerians too will have an opportunity… in the next maximum four or five months, they will actually be able to buy their shares,” Dangote said.
He mentioned that the NNPC already owns shares in the company for Nigerians, as seen in the Punch.
“They are holding 7.25 per cent of the shares that we have here… and they are holding that on behalf of Nigerians,” Africa’s richest man stated.
“People will have a choice either to get their dividends in naira or to get their dividends in dollars because we earn dollars,” he added.
Dangote’s real reason for listing his refinery
In a follow-up conversation with the press in December, Dangote commented on the reasons for opening the refinery to public investors.
“At the moment, our main interest is to list on the exchange, so that every living Nigerian can own part of the refinery,” he said at the time.
“Somebody asked me a question, is it 5 or 10 percent you want to sell, and I said that when we are going to sell the shares, we will not put a cap, if they happen to buy 55% and I own 45%, so be it,” he added.
When asked explicitly if the offer extended beyond Nigerians living in the country, Dangote simply said, “Yes.”
The Dangote Refinery, valued at over $20 billion, represents a significant milestone in Nigeria’s energy sector.
