By Udeme Akpan
President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has said shares of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, being offered at N525 each, could rise to N10,000 in the future.Dangote also assured small-scale investors participating in the refinery’s Initial Public Offering, IPO, that they would be prioritised in the allocation of shares.He spoke in Hausa during an interview with Abis Fulani, while discussing the proposed IPO and its potential benefits to investors.Dangote said retail investors seeking to buy smaller amounts of shares would receive priority over large institutional investors.He said, “When you do something like this—what is called an IPO—all the small-scale investors are the ones who will be given priority first.”He added, “The big institutional investors who request large allocations will not get everything they ask for. But the small retail investors who want to buy N50,000 worth, or some buying N100,000 worth, and so on, they are the ones who will be given priority allocations.”On the potential appreciation of the shares, Dangote said investors could make substantial gains if the value rises after listing.He said, “As I was saying, this share, if you look at it, we are currently at N525. A day will come when this share will reach N10,000.”Explaining the potential gain, he said, “Therefore, if you hold it, having bought it, and it rises to N10,000, where you previously invested N5m, it will now be worth over N50m.”“You see, you have become wealthy,” he said.Dangote also said shareholders could choose to receive dividends in either naira or dollars, which he said could help protect investors from currency depreciation.
