Dangote Cement Plc extended its winning streak on Wednesday as its share price surged by 9.98 percent, overtaking Airtel Africa Plc as the most valuable firm on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
The flagship company of Africa’s richest man moved from the third position to become number one in less than one week.
The country’s biggest cement producer had lost the top spot on November 1, 2023 to Airtel Africa, whose market capitalisation rose to N5.79 trillion as against Dangote Cement’s N5.59 trillion.
Dangote Cement’s market cap jumped by N690 billion to N7.71 trillion on Wednesday, compared to Airtel’s valuation of N7.52 trillion.
Its market value has risen by N1.75 trillion so far this week from N5.96 trillion last Friday, when it displaced MTN Nigeria Communications Plc as the second most valuable firm on the NGX.
BusinessDay reported on Tuesday that three subsidiaries of Dangote Group saw their combined market capitalisation rise by N513.69 billion on Monday, the first trading day after the announcement of the start of production at the conglomerate’s oil refinery.
Late Friday, a video of the 650,000-barrels-per-day Dangote refinery roaring to life began to circulate on social media, causing excitement in many circles. On Saturday, Dangote Group announced that the plant had started producing diesel and aviation fuel.
Aliko Dangote, president/chief executive of Dangote Group, described it as “a game changer” and “an important achievement for our country as it demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects”.
In a statement on Saturday, Dangote Group said products from the refinery would be in the market within this month once it received regulatory approvals.
It said the refinery had so far received six million barrels of crude oil at its two single point moorings located 25 kilometres from the shore. The first crude delivery was done on December 12, 2023, and the sixth cargo was delivered on January 8, 2024, it added.
It said the refinery can load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck-loading gantries, adding that the products will conform to Euro V specifications. The refinery design complies with the World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms, and the country’s oil regulator’s emission/effluent norms, employing state-of-the-art technology, according to the statement.
