President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that the company rejected attempts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to increase its 7.25 per cent stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Dangote disclosed this during an interview with the chief executive officer of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Nicolai Tangen, saying the refinery plans to go public and allow more Nigerians to own shares in the facility.
The billionaire businessman also identified policy inconsistency and possible civil unrest as major risks to businesses, stressing that stable government policies remain critical for industrial growth.
“Actually, if there were civil wars, which is not in the offing at all.
“The other biggest risk is government inconsistencies in policies, and we are addressing that one because if you look at our refinery, 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.”
Speaking further, Dangote stated that shareholders can get their dividends in dollars. “What we are announcing is that when you invest in any of our businesses going forward, in cement or in the refinery, in petrochemicals, or in fertiliser, we guarantee to pay you a dividend in dollars because we are very well into exports. 80 per cent of our revenue will be in dollars,” he said.
He explained that the refinery project received support from financial institutions such as Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, UBA, Standard Bank of South Africa and Standard Chartered Bank.
Dangote also recounted selling his properties in the United States and the United Kingdom to focus fully on business operations in Nigeria.
“When I decided to go into the industry, you know what I did? I sold all my properties in the US. I had two houses in the US, big mansions, and I had a house in the UK. I wanted to really sit in Nigeria and concentrate.
“You know, sometimes when you own a holiday home anywhere, you have to create that time to go and use that property. So, now my life is very simple. Wherever I go, I use hotels; I pay. When I leave, nobody will call me and say I have a burst pipe or something is wrong. So I’m committed to what I do, and I just don’t do things; I always create a vision.
“It’s just like now; we created a vision for 2030. So, I know I have a target to meet. I just don’t do business. All my businesses are targeted,” he said.
Explaining the philosophy behind his investment decisions, Dangote said, “I first of all look at what we need as a people. What is it that we are supposed to be producing, and what are we importing? So we do what you call ‘backward integration’. We produce what the people need, and we are now producing things that, when you wake up as a human being every morning, you must use part of what we produce,” he said.