President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has outlined plans to grow the conglomerate’s annual revenue to $100bn by 2030, even as he disclosed that the company rejected moves by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to increase its stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Dangote made the disclosure during an interview with the chief executive officer of Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, Nicolai Tangen, where he spoke on the future of the refinery, expansion plans and the company’s long-term investment strategy.
According to him, the NNPC currently owns 7.25 per cent equity in the $20bn Lekki-based refinery but had sought to acquire additional shares.
Dangote, however, said the request was declined because the group intends to widen ownership participation by eventually allowing more Nigerians to invest in the refinery and other businesses within the conglomerate.
“The national oil company already owns 7.25 per cent, and they are trying to buy more. We are the ones that said no because we want to spread ownership and allow more Nigerians to participate,” he said.
The development comes years after the NNPC initially agreed in 2021 to acquire a 20 per cent stake in the refinery for $1bn, with an option to complete the remaining equity purchase later. The state-owned oil firm eventually reduced its ownership to 7.25 per cent after failing to complete the full payment before the deadline expired.
Dangote said the group is positioning its businesses to attract broader investor participation while leveraging increasing export revenues from refining, fertiliser and petrochemical operations.
He disclosed that future investors in the group’s businesses would earn dollar-denominated dividends due to the company’s growing foreign exchange earnings.
According to him, about 80 per cent of the group’s revenues are expected to come from export activities in the coming years.
The billionaire businessman also revealed that the refinery is currently operating above its installed processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, with crude throughput reaching about 661,000 barrels daily.
He added that the company plans to more than double refining capacity to about 1.4 million barrels per day within the next 30 months.
The refinery expansion forms part of the group’s broader ambition to significantly scale operations across its cement, fertiliser, petrochemical and energy businesses.
Dangote said the company targets earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of over $30bn by 2030, compared to about $3bn recorded last year.
“We are coming up with selling part of the business, getting more investors into the business and making sure that we continue to grow,” he said.
Industry data also showed that the Dangote refinery is increasingly reshaping Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market.
Figures released by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority indicated that local refinery supply rose to about 3.18 billion litres in the first quarter of 2026, while petrol imports fell sharply to 965.52 million litres during the same period.
The figures reflect a major shift from Nigeria’s previous heavy dependence on imported fuel, with local refining now accounting for more than three-quarters of domestic petrol supply.
Industry analysts attribute much of the increase in local supply to the Dangote refinery, currently regarded as the country’s largest operational petrol supplier.
Dangote also said the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Iran had boosted demand for several of the group’s products, particularly fertiliser, aviation fuel and polypropylene.
According to him, fertiliser prices rose sharply from about $400 per tonne before the Middle East crisis to roughly $850 per tonne, while demand for aviation fuel has remained strong globally.
He further disclosed that the refinery sources crude oil from Nigeria as well as Angola, Libya and the United States to sustain operations.
Dangote maintained that the company’s long-term strategy remains focused on reducing Nigeria’s import dependence while expanding industrial production across Africa.