The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that his group turned down a request by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to increase its 7.25% stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. In an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Nicolai Tangen, Dangote explained that the decision was taken to facilitate a public listing that would allow other Nigerians to own shares in the plant. He noted that the national oil company already owns 7.25 per cent, and they are trying to buy more. He clarified that we are the ones that said no; we want to now spread it and have everybody be part of it.
In 2021, the national oil firm acquired its current stake for $1bn with an option to acquire the remaining 12.75% by June 2024, a provision the company did not fulfill. Dangote revealed that the original agreement was for 20%, but the NNPC did not pay the balance of the money up until last year. He added that despite an extension until June 2024, the company stated that they would remain where they had already paid, which is 7.2%.
The $20bn refinery is currently operating above its nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. Dangote disclosed that the refinery has been tested and that they have now processed even crude at 661,000 barrels a day. This operational success contributed to a significant domestic supply of 3.18 billion litres of petrol in the first quarter of 2026, during which period imports dropped to 965.52 million litres. With an average domestic ex-depot price of about N1,000 per litre, the facility supplied over N3.2tn worth of petrol domestically during the review period.
The billionaire businessman further announced that future investors would be guaranteed dividend payments in foreign currency. He stated that what we are announcing is that when you invest in any of our businesses going forward, in cement or in the refinery, in petrochemicals, in fertiliser, we guarantee to pay you a dividend in dollars because we are very well into exports. He emphasized that 80% of the group's revenue would be in dollars. The construction of the refinery was supported by various financial institutions, including Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, UBA, and several other local banks.
Global geopolitical conditions, particularly the conflict between the United States and Iran, have positively impacted the revenue of the refinery and its fertilizer operations. Dangote observed that the effect of the war on our businesses is more beneficial than a downside because today, fertiliser is in very high demand. He noted that urea prices rose from $400 per tonne to $850, and aviation fuel production has reached 20 million litres a day.
On a personal level, the business mogul shared that he sold his mansions in the United Kingdom and the United States to settle fully in Nigeria. He explained that I wanted to really sit in Nigeria and concentrate, noting that his life is now simpler as he stays in hotels during his travels. Looking ahead, the group aims to reach a revenue target of $100bn by 2030, with plans to invest $45bn across its businesses.
Dangote also identified sabotage from a group he referred to as the mafia as a significant challenge. He described these individuals as those who benefited from the previous $10bn annual subsidy regime. He said that the Mafia are the people who are actually benefiting because Nigeria was giving out almost $10bn every year as a subsidy. According to him, these interests opposed the refinery's success because they believed they were being displaced.
Data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority indicates that domestic refining provided 76.7% of the national petrol supply in the first quarter of 2026. While imports fell by 60.2% compared to the same period in 2025, total petrol supply declined by 6.2%. Energy economist Professor Wumi Iledare cautioned that while domestic supply has improved, recent claims that petrol importation into Nigeria has ended because Dangote Refinery now meets domestic demand reflect understandable optimism, but they overstate economic reality.
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