Nigerian stock market to be as big as Johannesburg Exchange in five years—Dangote
President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has revealed why his confidence in the Nigerian economy and the Stock Exchange in particular has remained unshaken.
Giving reasons for his plans to bring the emerging Dangote Oil Refining Company Limited to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on delivery, he said he has firm believe that in less than five years, the strength and capability of the Exchange will equal that of the South African Exchange at Johannesburg.
Explaining his new plans during a special session to celebrate his 60th birthday at NSE in Lagos recently, he explained that “Refining business is not a business that you make 50 per cent margin from; the margin is low but what you depend on is the volume of business that you have there, and that is the reason why we are building a 650,000-barrels-per-day refinery. It is a very large one”.
Dangote averred further that when completed in 2019, the refinery would enhance local refining of the nation’s crude oil, and save the country a lot of money currently being spent on the shipment of crude oil and petroleum products.
He said his refinery will assist in regular distribution of products to filling stations across the country, revealing that “When you travel around, you see that, especially in the northern part, more than 50 per cent of the filling stations are not operational,” he said.
With four of his companies already listed on the NSE, Dangote said, “We will list every single company that we create between now and the end of my life. But the companies will continue obviously.
“We pray that very soon, we will start having our AGMs in stadiums and not in hotels. And that means that we will create something like about two to three million shareholders and I am sure everybody will be happy.”
“What we are building today is more than 100 times bigger than where we are. That is the trajectory that we are seeing in the next 10 years.
“We will take charge of diversifying the economy of Nigeria, most especially working with the government as partners to make sure that we diversify the economy and to spread prosperity to Nigerians. I think I have to continue now to dedicate the rest of my life to making sure that the prosperity is spread all over,” he said.
