Raise $22bn to build your own refinery if it is easy — Emir of Kano challenges Dangote Refinery critics

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has challenged critics of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to raise $22 billion and build a competing refinery, arguing that the facility cannot be described as a monopoly simply because of its scale.

Sanusi spoke on Thursday at the Dangote Refinery’s “People’s IPO” roadshow in Kano, where he also urged Nigerians to consider taking part in the company’s planned share offering.

“There is no monopoly if a monopoly is not protected by law,” he said.

The former Central Bank of Nigeria governor challenged those opposed to the refinery’s market position to undertake the financial commitment required to establish a competing facility.

“Anybody who wants to build a refinery, anybody who wants to raise $22 billion, invest and go through what Aliko went through is welcome to do so,” Sanusi said.

He said the refinery represented a shift away from Nigeria’s longstanding dependence on imported refined petroleum products, arguing that producing more petroleum products locally would reduce pressure on the country’s foreign exchange.

Sanusi, who recalled his interactions with Aliko Dangote during his banking career in the late 1990s, said Dangote’s industrial expansion was driven by the objective of producing locally what Nigerians consume.

He said Nigeria had historically exported crude oil to earn foreign exchange while using part of those earnings to import refined petroleum products.

According to him, the Dangote refinery has altered that pattern by giving Nigeria significant domestic refining capacity and creating the potential to supply refined products to international markets.

Sanusi also used the roadshow to encourage wider Nigerian ownership of the refinery through the IPO.

He said equity ownership could allow more Nigerians to participate in the financial returns from major productive investments, while urging prospective investors not to commit funds needed for essential household expenses.

“It is the shareholders who own it. It is the shareholders who take the returns. It is the shareholders who own the profits,” he said.

Sanusi said broader participation in the IPO could increase local ownership of a major industrial asset and deepen participation in the capital market.

The Kano roadshow, tagged “Kano Grand Homecoming”, brought together Dangote Industries Limited President, Aliko Dangote; Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane; CEO of CFG Advisory, Adetilewa Adebajo; and other business and capital market stakeholders.