Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has revealed plans to sell between five and ten percent of shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) within the next 12 months.

Speaking in an interview with S&P Global, Dangote said the proposed listing aligns with the company’s broader strategy of opening up its businesses to public investment, similar to other subsidiaries like Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar Refinery.

“We don’t want to keep more than 65%-70%,” he said, adding that the shares will be sold gradually based on market conditions and investor appetite.

Dangote disclosed that the group is in talks with strategic investors from the Middle East to support the refinery’s expansion and fund a new petrochemicals project in China.  “Our business concept is going to change. Now, instead of being 100 percent Dangote-owned, we’ll have other partners,” he explained.

He also hinted at the possibility of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) increasing its current 7.2 percent stake once the refinery enters its next growth phase. said, “I want to demonstrate what this refinery can do, then we can sit down and talk,” Dangote said.

The refinery, which commenced operations in 2024, has capacity to refine  650,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Dangote said the long-term plan is to double output to 1.4 million barrels per day—surpassing the 1.36 million bpd produced by the world’s largest refinery in Jamnagar, India.

Beyond refining, Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expanding its petrochemicals footprint, targeting an increase in polypropylene production from one million to 1.5 million metric tonnes annually. The company is also developing new projects in base oils and linear alkylbenzene production.

On maintenance operations, Dangote said most technical challenges have been resolved, but a one-month shutdown may be scheduled soon to complete final adjustments. “We have resolved most, not all, but most of the problems. And I think we’re looking for a window when we shut down for another month,” he said, noting that the downtime will be planned to avoid disruptions during peak fuel demand at year’s end.