Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has reacted to the excitement among Nigerians following the ongoing initial public offering of his company, with some new investors jokingly demanding daily updates on their investments.
In a video shared on social media, CNN journalist Larry Madowo told Dangote that some Nigerians were already behaving like shareholders, inspecting trucks and visiting cement factories while demanding regular updates.
Madowo said, “Nigerians are excited about the IPO. They’re inspecting your trucks, they’re at cement factories. Everywhere, they’re like, ‘I’m an investor, I need an update every day.’”
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Responding, Dangote said the IPO was not targeted only at Nigerians, noting that it had attracted interest from across Africa.
He said the offering was aimed at widening participation in the stock market and spreading wealth among more people.
“Well, I think this IPO, not only for Nigerians, we’ve got a lot of interest from all over Africa. And we are selling shares. We are trying to bring in democracy to our stock markets,” Dangote said.
The billionaire said the company was also targeting about 10 million shareholders and envisioned having its annual general meetings in a stadium.
“We are looking at having 10 million shareholders. And I’m 100 per cent sure we’ll get 10 million shareholders,” he said.
Dangote further disclosed that the company had already raised the amount of money it was seeking through the IPO.
“I mean, we’ve already raised the money that we are looking for. So, this is just to make sure we spread the wealth across the continent. That’s what we are trying to do,” he added.
Madowo, who continued the conversation on the enthusiasm of the new investors, joked that some of them were already expecting daily reports after investing small amounts.
“These new investors, they want daily updates like, ‘I put 5,000 naira, so where’s my update for today?’” he said.
Dangote acknowledged the expectation, saying the growth of the share price would ultimately matter to the investors.
“Yes, you know, because, I mean, that’s really what matters to them. But the share price will continue to grow,” he said.
He also expressed confidence in the company’s future profitability, saying, “I can assure you, really, we will be the most profitable company in Africa.”