‘Africa Is Not Poor, It Is Unmonetised’: Botswana Stock Exchange Chair Hails Dangote Refinery

Chairperson of the Botswana Stock Exchange, Neo Mooki, has described the Dangote Refinery as a powerful example of what African ambition can achieve, saying the project demonstrates that Africans can build, own and monetise the continent’s resources.

Mooki made the remarks during the opening ceremony of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals’ ₦2.15 trillion Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Nigerian Exchange.

Speaking at the event, Mooki recalled visiting the refinery several months earlier alongside Botswana’s Vice President and members of her team.

She said that after about an hour of touring the facility, she paused and described the experience as feeling like she was “standing in the middle of ambition.”

Mooki congratulated Aliko Dangote for having the audacity to demonstrate that African ambition could produce an industrial project capable of operating on a scale with global significance.

She said the refinery represented more than a Nigerian industrial achievement, arguing that it demonstrated the possibility of Africans owning and creating value from Africa’s resources across the value chain.

“Africa is not poor. It is unmonetised,” Mooki said, arguing that the continent possesses significant resources, capital, entrepreneurs and markets but must do more to convert those assets into ownership and economic value.

According to her, the Dangote Refinery represents a step towards that objective by showing that African resources and ambition can be transformed into large-scale industrial capacity.

Mooki said the occasion was therefore not only a historic moment for Nigeria but also a proud moment for Africa.

She also called for greater cooperation across African capital markets, urging Dangote and other stakeholders to extend the ambition beyond Nigeria and create opportunities across the continent.

Her comments came as the Dangote Refinery IPO formally opened on the Nigerian Exchange, marking a major development in Nigeria’s capital market and offering investors an opportunity to participate in the company.

The remarks have also placed the refinery’s IPO within a wider conversation about African ownership, capital formation and the ability of African institutions and investors to participate in the continent’s industrial growth.