Dangote Refinery, Fertiliser Companies to List on NGX

The Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group, Dr Umaru Kwairanga, has disclosed that two companies in the Dangote Industries Group will be listed on the exchange soon.

Kwairanga made this revelation on Tuesday during a closing-gong ceremony in honour of the Senate Committee on Capital Market and Institution’s visit to the NGX headquarters in Lagos.

He said, “As at last week, the president of Dangote assured me that the Dangote Refinery is going to be listed on this market very soon. He also said that apart from the refinery, he is going to list the fertiliser company (Dangote Fertiliser Limited). This is a commitment from the private sector.

“We have the Geregu that is listed and we believe that there are other GenCos that can use the opportunity of these National Assembly members here and our regulator to make sure we bring them to the market.

“We need to have a legislative agenda that will force the NNPCL, NLNG, PFAs to list on this market and we assure you that we have the capacity to ensure that all listings are for the benefit of the investing public.”

In a 2023 interview, the President of the DIL, Aliko Dangote, said that he would be listing the refinery on the exchange without mentioning a timeline.

Also, several outlooks on the capital market for 2024 had projected that the refinery would be listed this year and that it would be a major boost for the market.

In his comments, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market & Institutions, Senator Osita Izunaso, stated that the legislative arm of the government would be advising the executive to encourage companies in the energy value chain to list on the capital market.

Izunaso said, “The stock exchange and the capital market are the future of our economy, it is the future of our generation and it is something that we must all support. We also have to encourage other companies to do so. Those that are listed and that are still listed like Dangote, we congratulate them.

“I will also request other people who have not listed to do so. On our part as legislators, we will advise the executive to advise the DisCos and GenCos that are not listed to come to the capital market, so we can all help to grow the economy.”

The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lamido Yuguda, in his comments, stated that the twin policy reforms of the government: the removal of fuel subsidy and the harmonisation of the segments of the foreign exchange market, have significantly impacted the capital market.

“The overall business environment is getting much brighter and once this environment gets better, people would then be able to make different financial decisions than they would have made if this environment had been as gloomy as it was before,” the SEC boss said.

The Doyen of the market, Rasheed Yussuf, urged the lawmakers to advise the executive arm of government to open up and allow the capital market to finance some of the projects it is currently holding on to.

He said, “The Nigerian economy has been experiencing some challenges and the economy has shown much potential that it is waiting for people like us here and investors, both home and abroad to take advantage of those potential.

“The upward trajectory in the market is real and what that is saying to you is that the capital market is ready and able to and has all that it takes to fund some of the projects that the government is holding on to.”

According to Yussuf, there are local and foreign investors who have the funds and are actively looking for the avenues to fund profitable projects.

“We have so many foreign investors who have shown interest in our market. We have so many local investors who have money stacked in the banks and don’t know what to do with it. And they are asking us because we are close to the investors, ‘What do we do with this money? Where do we put them?’ They are looking for veritable outlets to put the money.

“Let us take advantage of this interest in releasing some of the government’s holdings, some of the government’s projects that we are financing through allocation.”

He claimed that some of government projects could be channelled to the market and the market could finance them.

“That will absorb the demand and interest we are seeing from foreign and local investors. It will also introduce discipline to the management of the economy. We ask you to do that for us,” he concluded.

February 07, 2024