Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, has disclosed that the company rejected attempts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to increase its 7.25 per cent stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Dangote made the revelation during an interview with Nicolai Tangen, chief executive officer of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.
According to him, the decision was driven by plans to eventually take the refinery public and allow more Nigerians to own shares in the project.
“The national oil company already owns 7.25 per cent, 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, valued at about $20 billion and located in Lekki, Lagos, has become a major player in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.
In 2021, the NNPC acquired a 7.25 per cent stake in the refinery for $1 billion, with an option to purchase an additional 12.75 per cent stake by June 2024. However, the national oil company later decided not to proceed with the acquisition.
Dangote recalled that the original agreement gave the NNPC a 20 per cent stake in the refinery, but the company failed to complete payment for the remaining shares.
“The agreement was actually 20 per cent, which we had with NNPC, and they did not pay the balance of the money up until last year; then we gave them another extension up until June (2024), and they said that they would remain where they had already paid, which is 7.2 per cent,” he had stated in 2024.
Meanwhile, findings showed that petrol supply from the Dangote refinery rose to 3.18 billion litres in the first quarter of 2026, while fuel imports dropped significantly to 965.52 million litres during the same period.
The average domestic ex-depot petrol price from the refinery between January and March 2026 was estimated at about ₦1,000 per litre, indicating that the facility supplied over ₦3.2 trillion worth of petrol locally within the review period.
The report also noted that ongoing tensions involving the United States and Iran, along with disruptions in the global oil market, have boosted export opportunities for the refinery, leading to increased revenue from refined petroleum product exports.
Speaking on potential threats to his businesses, Dangote identified policy inconsistency by governments as a major concern.
“The other biggest risk is government inconsistencies in policies,” he said.
Dangote also stated that future investors in his businesses would receive dividends in dollars because a large percentage of the company’s revenue is generated through exports.
“What we are announcing is that when you invest in any of our businesses going forward — in cement, refinery, petrochemicals, or fertiliser — we guarantee to pay you dividends in dollars because we are very well into exports. Eighty per cent of our revenue will be in dollars,” he explained.
The billionaire businessman further disclosed that he sold his properties in the United States and the United Kingdom to focus fully on industrial development in Nigeria.
“When I decided to go into the industry, I sold all my properties in the US. I had two houses in the US and one in the UK. I wanted to really sit in Nigeria and concentrate,” he said.
Dangote explained that he now prefers staying in hotels whenever he travels rather than owning homes abroad.
He added that all his business ventures are driven by long-term vision and targeted goals.
“It’s just like now; we created a vision for 2030. So, I know I have a target to meet,” he said.
On his business philosophy, Dangote said the group focuses on producing goods that Nigeria heavily imports.
“I first of all look at what we need as a people. What is it that we are supposed to be producing, and we’re importing? So we do what you call backward integration,” he said.
