FG has only 7.2 % stake in our refinery-Dangote

The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Aliko Dangote, Sunday said the refinery will be listed on the Nigerian Exchange before the end of March, 2025.
Meanwhile, the refinery has delayed the date for the supply of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, till August.
Dangote had shifted from June to July before the Sunday announcement of another shift.
Dangote disclosed that the refinery was set to roll out its petrol in August 2024, having resolved its crude oil supply issues through the help of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Federal Government.
He: “We plan to list the refinery and petrochemical before the end of the first quarter of next year.
“The issue of crude has been settled last week. But we hope that the IOCs will respect it.”
Dangote also revealed that the Federal Government owned only a 7.2 per cent stake in the Dangote Refinery against the 20 per cent that was publicised.
“The Federal Government have only 7.2 per cent because it failed to pay for the balance for the 20 per cent stake
The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote told newsmen during a tour of the facility with Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu of Lagos State and other dignitaries that the petrol from the 650,000 barrels capacity refinery would be out in July.
Dangote said this was due to some minor challenges, stating that the product would be out by July 10 to 15.
“We had a bit of delay, but PMS will start coming out by 10 to 15 of July. But then we want to keep it in the tank to make sure that it settles. So by the third week of July, we’ll be able to come out to take it into the market,” Dangote had said.
Contrary to popular belief, Dangote announced that the NNPC has a 7.2 per cent stake and not 20 per cent as is being speculated.
He stated that while the NNPC had promised to provide the funds, it had been unable to meet its obligations, thus reducing its stake in the $19bn refinery to 7.2 per cent.
He said, “The NNPC no longer owns a 20 per cent stake in the Dangote refinery. They were meant to pay their balance in June but have yet to fulfil the obligations. Now, they only own a 7.2 per cent stake in the refinery.”
In a statement on Sunday, the NNPC confirmed that it decided not to add to its earlier investment in the refinery.
According to the NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, the energy company had several months ago decided to cap its investment at the amount already paid. Soneye hinted that the decision not to invest any further in the Dangote refinery did not impact NNPC’s business.
“Several months ago, we made a commercial decision to cap our investment at the amount already paid. This decision was taken by NNPC Ltd and has no impact on our business,” he said tersely.
Dangote announced plans to list his refinery and fertilizer plants on the Nigerian Exchange Group by the first quarter of 2025.
The decision to list the two subsidiaries comes as the group seeks to expand its investor base and unlock further value for shareholders.
Dangote disclosed that the company’s construction of rice mills with a 1-million-tonne capacity is ongoing, saying the Jigawa plant is expected to be commissioned in a few months.
Dangote disclosed that the delay in securing a site for the Dangote Petrochemical Facility in Ogun State resulted in a $500m loss.
He attributed the financial setback to the protracted process of acquiring land at the Olokola Free Trade Zone refinery cost him $500m on the $2.5bn initial drawdown on bank loans.
He expressed displeasure over the bureaucratic hurdles encountered, which he said negatively impacted the project timeline and overall costs.
“The three years and eight months delay by Ogun State govt over Olokola land for petrochemicals facility cost us $500m,” Dangote said.
It was gathered that the company’s fertiliser plant would resume production in two weeks to give farmers a more productive harvest.
He said there was a massive request for Dangote fertiliser from Nigerians and the rest of Africa.
He noted that the fertiliser plant has 3Mta of granulated urea (2 lines of 1.5Mta each), saying it was largely export-driven business with 12 per cent sold domestically and 88 per cent exported to Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, the United States and Europe.
Dangote revealed that the production of fertiliser has increased by 48 per cent to 1.2 million tonnes in 2023, creating 1,500 direct jobs and about 5,000 indirect jobs.
He projected that the company’s revenue would grow to about $30bn in the next few years, increasing six times.
It was mentioned that 75 percent of the group’s revenue currently comes from the cement business; 80 per cent of of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization comes from Nigeria, with 90 per cent of revenue in various local currencies.
In future, the Dangote Group projected that 15 per cent of revenue would come from the cement business; 50 per cent of EBITDA from outside Nigeria (including exports) and 70 per cent of revenue in hard currency.
During the presentation, Dangote noted that the company’s cement is the leading cement player in Africa with a total capacity of 52 million tonnes per annum across 10 countries. He said, “Plans are underway to add a total of 9m tons of capacity in Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire”.