‘Nigerian Investors Don’t Care’- Expert Reacts As Dangote Cement Shares Rise By 5% Despite EFCC Probe

Dangote Cement Plc shares rose by 5.1 per cent on Friday despite a probe over alleged foreign exchange allocation, a move that has triggered diverse views on the Nigerian stock market.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday stormed the headquarters of the Dangote Group of companies in Lagos over alleged foreign exchange allocation fraud.

The probe was linked to alleged sales of foreign exchange to Dangote Group by the former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele below market rate.

Checks on the performance of Dangote Cement showed that its shares rose to N325 per share on Friday from the N319.9 per share traded from December 28, 2023, to December 4, 2024.

The volume of the company’s shares traded rose to 1,041,479 on Friday from the 71,542 traded the previous day.

However, the shares of Dangote Sugar fell by 1.05 per cent to N66.05 per share compared to the N63.25 per share traded on Thursday.

Reacting to the market sentiments, a professor at John Hopkin University and Co-Chairman of JPL Financial Group, Ndubuisi Ekekwe said the rise in the shares of Dangote Cement despite the probe shows the level of the development of the Nigerian stock market.

He said on his social media page, “Nigeria is a special place. When the news broke that Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives raided the headquarters of Dangote Group, as part of investigations into possible misuse of foreign currency, I had expected that during the next trading day, the values of Dangote Cement and other companies in the Group would struggle.

“(Nigerian) Investors did not care. If this information does not move markets in Nigeria, what are investors trading on then? In the United States, Dangote properties would have suffered huge losses. But in Nigeria, just like in elections, no one cares about anything.

“Sure, they do not re-price in near-real time, but over weeks and months, they do re-price. That simply shows the level of our stock market development. It is not driven by data and most times; it is all about herding and speculations. Even a possible criminal investigation in a company does not constitute risk! What a nation! Count yourself lucky of being a Nigerian because you can get away with most things!”