Aliko Dangote said his conglomerate rejected attempts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to increase its 7.25% stake in the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery saying the group plans to list the refinery publicly and broaden ownership among Nigerians.
Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, disclosed this during an interview with Nicolai Tangen according to a report by the Punch Newspaper.
The billionaire businessman said the state oil company sought to acquire additional shares in the Lekki-based refinery after previously reducing its intended stake from 20% to 7.25%.“The national oil company already owns 7.25%, and they are trying to buy more. We are the ones that said no; we want to now spread it and have everybody be part of it,” Dangote said.
The refinery, Africa’s largest, supplied about 3.18 billion litres of petrol domestically in the first quarter of 2026, while imports dropped to 965.52 million litres, according to industry data reviewed by The Punch Newspaper.
Based on an average ex-depot price of about 1,000 naira per litre between January and March, the refinery supplied more than 3.2 trillion naira worth of petrol to the domestic market during the period.
Dangote said the refinery had also benefited from disruptions in global oil markets linked to tensions between the United States and Iran, which boosted exports of refined petroleum products.
CliqMetro reports that the NNPC bought its initial 7.25% stake in the refinery for $1 billion in 2021, with an option to acquire an additional 12.75% stake by June 2024. The state oil company later declined to exercise the option.
Dangote said government policy inconsistency remained one of the biggest risks to business operations in Nigeria, alongside the possibility of civil unrest.“The other biggest risk is government inconsistencies in policies,” he said.
The African richest man added that future investors in the group’s businesses, including cement, petrochemicals and fertiliser, could receive dividends in dollars because a large share of revenues would come from exports.“We guarantee to pay you a dividend in dollars because we are very well into exports. Eighty percent of our revenue will be in dollars,” Dangote said.
He revealed that the refinery project received financing support from several institutions, including Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered after currency devaluation increased funding pressures.
Dangote said he sold properties in the United States and Britain to focus fully on building industrial operations in Nigeria.