Femi Otedola, a rich businessman from Nigeria, revealed that he sold his interest in Geregu Power Plc in order to fund the Dangote refinery project, which is controlled by Aliko Dangote. Speaking to reporters during a visit to the Dangote Refinery on Wednesday, Mr. Otedola revealed the information.
He called Mr. Dangote "a colossus" and "one of the greatest men that has come out of Africa" while applauding his industrial endeavors. Mr. Otedola stated, "That's one of the reasons I sold my stake in the Geregu plant to come and invest my proceeds in the IPO of Dangote Refinery."
The businessman said that he had frequently asked Mr. Dangote to give him shares in the private placement of the refinery. I have personally appealed to him. He said that Mr. Dangote should give him shares worth $100 million during the private placement phase as part of his pay, saying, "I have been here with him 25 times."
The Dangote refinery project, according to Mr. Otedola, is a game-changing investment that might liberate Africa and Nigeria from economic reliance.
He declared, "I hope Aliko Dangote is a colossus, a genius, and perhaps one of the greatest men to have come out of Africa for delivering us out of economic slavery in Nigeria and, by extension, Africa."
In December of last year, Mr. Otedola sold his stake in Geregu Power Plc, the energy-producing business he went public with in October 2022, for N250 billion, which at the time was estimated to be worth almost N2.9 trillion.
According to a source who was aware of the transaction at the time, the sale was for $750 million. He owned the bulk of the Lagos-quoted company until the share sale was finalized.
During his speech on Wednesday, Mr. Dangote disclosed that the refinery's Initial Public Offering (IPO) was being planned and may be initiated by September.
Investor demand for the IPO has already reached "billions of dollars," he claims.
He stated, "There is a lot of demand in terms of people pushing us, bothering us, and saying we want to buy."
According to Mr. Dangote, the intention was to enable early investors to profit from the refinery's future expansion in the same manner as investors profited from early investments in multinational technology companies.
He stated, "We want it to be like when you buy Amazon or Apple. Everyone has become a millionaire, and that is what we want to bring into Africa."
