By Daniel Abia
PORT HARCOURT — President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said the Dangote Petroleum Refinery plans to increase its production capacity from 500,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day by early 2029.
The company has also assured small investors that they would be accommodated in its ongoing initial public offering (IPO), despite concerns over reported oversubscription and the limited number of shares on offer.
Dangote gave the assurances on Monday during a virtual session at the final IPO roadshow, themed “Back to Where It All Began,” organised by Financial Derivatives Company in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The industrialist projected significant expansion in the refinery’s petrochemical operations, disclosing plans to produce 2.5 million tonnes of polyolefin and 400,000 metric tonnes of linear alkylbenzene.
He described the planned expansion as a major milestone for Africa’s industrial development.
“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,” Dangote said.
“We will be at 2.5 million tonnes of polyolefin, which is the largest ever in African history,” he added.
Addressing concerns about the reported oversubscription of the IPO and the availability of shares, Dangote assured prospective investors that smaller subscribers 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.
The industrialist also defended the offer price of ₦525 per share, describing it as attractive and expressing confidence in the refinery’s financial performance.
“I think it’s an extremely very, very good price,” he said, adding that the company’s performance could surpass its projected full-year earnings.
Dangote further presented the shares as a long-term investment opportunity, suggesting that investors could potentially more than double their investments within two and a half years. Such returns, however, are not guaranteed.
Speaking at the event, Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, urged Nigerians to view the IPO as an opportunity to move from being consumers to investors in strategic national infrastructure.
Rewane said the refinery’s public listing could significantly expand the Nigerian capital market, projecting that market capitalisation could exceed ₦220 trillion following the listing.
Also speaking, economist Muda Yusuf said the investment could strengthen Nigeria’s economic fundamentals through industrialisation, job creation, reduced dependence on imported petroleum products and improved foreign exchange stability.
He said the refinery’s impact extended beyond fuel production to petrochemicals, packaging, plastics and other industries that depend on locally processed raw materials.
Yusuf added that the IPO would deepen public participation in the capital market and promote wider ownership of strategic industrial assets.
In his remarks, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Paul Usoro, urged residents of the South-South region, particularly those in oil-producing communities, to participate in the share offering.
Usoro, who disclosed that he had invested in the refinery, said Nigerians should have a stake in an industry built around the country’s natural resources.
He also recalled the long queues that characterised fuel scarcity in the past, arguing that increased domestic refining capacity could help reduce such disruptions.
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