The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari disclosed on Monday during an interview on Bloomberg TV Global Financial News that the earliest the corporation can issue its Initial Public Offer to investors is in the next three years.
The announcement is one of the outcomes of the Petroleum Industry Act recently signed on the state-owned corporation in the global market.
Speaking on the impact of the PIA on the NNPC, Kyari said the corporation would now be operated in line with the Companies and Allied Act.
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He stated that the NNPC may not be able to offer its shares to the public by 2022 or 2023 due to certain bottlenecks that had lingered over the years.
Kyari said, “We will be in the position to consider any IPO in three years’ time; that is the provision of the law.
“But when you want to get ready for IPO, you need to do things different. You need to get your books correct; you need to recapitalise; you need to shape your portfolio and many more things that you have to do until you get IPO ready.
“Surely, it is not what we will do in 2022 or 2023; probably the earliest consideration will be in three years’ time.”
Last week was the first time the corporation declared a profit of N287 billion in 2020 in the past 44 years and Kyari admitted that the profit fell far below the NNPC’s potential.
Speaking on the development, the GMD said, “Obviously this company is changing very fast and on the fast lane. We just declared profit for the fiscal year 2020.
“We are not getting ready for the IPO tomorrow; that is not exactly, that is not the situation. IPO really means this company is going to be profitable, it has a long trajectory, it has a short-term view of how things can be done better to align with the best practice in the industry.
“We are trying to see how we can relax the existing framework for energy transition that is ongoing all over the world.
“Every country is adjusting its portfolio by doing things differently in a better way and obviously in the long run, this is going to be a very great company and great companies always go for IPO.
“So, this is not something that we are going to do tomorrow. Obviously not. Our new law has made the provision that we can sell shares of this company, but in today’s context, I really say this company is doing great and getting an IPO means that it is going to be better than what it is today.”
Kyari said energy security was the major consideration why the NNPC is taking stake in the 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil Dangote Refinery owned by Africa’s richest business man.
