Economist Bismarck Rewane has encouraged Nigerians to consider investing in the planned Dangote Refinery Initial Public Offering (IPO) rather than exchanging their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for short-term financial benefits.
Rewane said the IPO could help promote a stronger investment culture in Nigeria by giving ordinary citizens an opportunity to own shares in one of the country’s major industrial projects.
Speaking about the proposed public offering, the economist compared long-term investment with the practice of selling PVCs for immediate cash.
“You are better off with your N5,000 share than selling your PVC for N10,000 or N15,000 and consuming it,” Rewane said.
IPO Could Bring Millions of Nigerians Into the Market
According to Rewane, the Dangote Refinery IPO has the potential to attract millions of new investors, including Nigerians who have traditionally had little involvement in the capital market.
He described the proposed target of 10 million investors as a significant milestone that could reshape Nigeria’s investment landscape.
Rewane noted that achieving such participation would give the refinery an exceptionally broad shareholder base.
“If you can get 10 million shareholders to participate in the IPO, the Dangote Refinery will have the largest number of shareholders in the world,” he said.
Rewane Compares Investment With Betting
The economist also used the opportunity to draw attention to the growing popularity of betting and other forms of gambling among Nigerians.
He explained that investment differs from gambling because an investor makes decisions based on identifiable business and financial factors, rather than simply relying on chance.
“The difference between a gambling act, a lottery act and an investment is that in one case, you are investing based on known parameters; in the other one, you are actually just gambling and taking a chance,” Rewane said.
He argued that encouraging Nigerians to invest could help shift more people from a culture of immediate consumption toward building wealth over time.
‘Economic Democratisation’
Rewane described broad public participation in the IPO as a form of economic democratisation.
He said allowing millions of Nigerians to own shares in the refinery would give ordinary citizens a direct stake in the performance and growth of a major Nigerian company.
“Therefore, you are democratising the market and economic process as distinct from democratizing the electoral process,” he said.
He further highlighted the refinery’s potential importance to Nigeria and the wider African petroleum market.
According to the economist, the facility could develop into a major refining and petroleum-products hub serving markets across West and Central Africa.
Rewane said successful participation in the investment could potentially benefit shareholders through dividends and returns, while also contributing to government revenue through taxation.
“So it is a compelling investment opportunity which puts revenue and profits and dividends into the pockets of consumers and investors, puts a lot of tax revenue in the pockets of the government,” he said.
