DANGOTE JOKES ABOUT SHAREHOLDER MEMES, SETS 2028 TARGET FOR FERTILISER IPO
Read Time:2 Minute, 24 Second
By:Aminat Tajudeen
Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has reacted to the viral social media posts by new Nigerian shareholders calling for a “board meeting,” while confirming that the group plans to list its fertiliser business on the stock market in 2028.
Dangote spoke during an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum on Sunday while discussing the ownership structure of his businesses and efforts to bring more investors into the group.
Explaining the group’s approach to ownership, Dangote said the company had traditionally operated without partners but was now seeking to broaden its investor base.
“No, we have actually everything we do by ourselves. 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.
He also acknowledged the social media trend involving Nigerians who recently purchased shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, joking about their demands for a board meeting.
“You must have seen that they’ve been calling me now for a board meeting,” Dangote said.
The comment comes amid a wave of memes and humorous posts following the ongoing initial public offering of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which has been promoted as a “people’s IPO.”
Some retail investors who purchased the minimum of 10 shares have taken to social media to portray themselves as co-owners and newly appointed executives of the refinery.
Some Nigerians have shared certificates featuring their photographs and titles such as “chief investment officer” and “co-founder and partner,” while others have posted videos joking about monitoring the refinery’s operations or holding virtual meetings with Dangote.
The “board meeting” reference has subsequently become a recurring joke among social media users discussing the refinery’s share offer.
Meanwhile, Dangote confirmed that the group also plans to take its fertiliser business public.
Asked about plans for an IPO, he said, “Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, we will IPO it. It’s going to be the biggest fertilizer company on earth.”
When asked about the expected timeline, Dangote replied, “Yes, it will be 2028.”
Dangote Fertiliser operates a $2.5bn fertiliser plant in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, with an annual production capacity of approximately three million tonnes of urea.
The group has also announced plans to increase its fertiliser production capacity to about 12 million tonnes annually by 2028, through the expansion of its Nigerian operations and a proposed plant in Ethiopia.
Dangote had previously stated that the planned expansion would position the fertiliser business among the world’s largest urea producers.
The 2028 timeline represents the latest public indication from Dangote regarding the proposed listing of the fertiliser business.
The announcement comes as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s IPO continues to attract interest from Nigerian retail investors, giving members of the public an opportunity to acquire shares in the refinery.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0