The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has joined the growing online conversation among Nigerians who recently became shareholders in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, joking that the new investors have been calling for a board meeting.
Dangote also disclosed that the group plans to take its fertiliser business public in 2028, giving investors another opportunity to own a stake in one of its major businesses.
He made the disclosures during an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum on Sunday while speaking about the ownership structure of his businesses and the group’s plans to bring more investors on board.
Dangote said the group had traditionally operated its businesses without partners but was now opening up opportunities for more people to become shareholders.
“We don’t have partners. But that’s why we are now looking for all these massive number of people to now become our partners,” he said.
The billionaire businessman then referenced the viral social media memes and jokes that have followed the ongoing initial public offering of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
“You must have seen that they’ve been calling me now for a board meeting,” Dangote said, laughing.
The comment comes after the refinery’s share offer, promoted as a “people’s IPO”, triggered a wave of humorous reactions from Nigerians who bought shares.
Many retail investors who purchased the minimum of 10 shares have taken to social media to jokingly portray themselves as co-owners and executives of the refinery.
Some have created mock certificates featuring their photographs and titles such as “chief investment officer”, “co-founder” and “partner”, while others have posted memes and videos pretending to monitor the refinery’s operations, demand reports or schedule meetings with Dangote.
The jokes have become part of the wider excitement surrounding the refinery’s decision to offer shares to members of the public.
Beyond the memes, Dangote revealed that the group intends to extend the public ownership model to its fertiliser business.
When asked whether the fertiliser business would also be listed, Dangote confirmed the plan.
“Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, we will IPO it. It’s going to be the biggest fertilizer company on earth,” he said.
Asked when the listing would take place, he gave 2028 as the target year.
“Yes, it will be 2028,” Dangote said.
Dangote Fertiliser currently operates a $2.5bn fertiliser plant in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, with an annual production capacity of about three million tonnes of urea.
The Dangote Group has also announced plans to significantly expand its fertiliser production capacity, targeting about 12 million tonnes annually by 2028 through the expansion of its Nigerian operations and a proposed plant in Ethiopia.
Dangote has previously said the expansion is intended to position the fertiliser business among the world’s largest urea producers.
The 2028 timeline therefore marks the latest indication from the businessman on when Nigerians and other investors could get an opportunity to buy into the fertiliser arm of the conglomerate.
The planned listing comes as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s IPO continues to generate interest among retail investors, marking a significant step in the group’s strategy of broadening ownership of some of its major businesses.
For many of the new refinery shareholders, the jokes about “board meetings” may be largely for social media, but Dangote’s latest comments suggest that the group is taking the growing interest in public ownership seriously.