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Turkish executive Betul Sarikaya has been appointed CFO of Dangote Petroleum & Petrochemicals as the Nigerian billionaire’s energy group expands its refining and regional distribution businesses.
The appointment follows the refinery's historic initial public offering (IPO) last month, which targeted approximately $1.6 billion and attracted investors from around 120 countries. The listing increased Dangote's fortune by $20 billion to $56 billion, making him the world's 36th-richest person.
A graduate of Middle East Technical University (METU), Sarikaya holds a master's degree from Koc University. She spent eight years at PwC, working across its U.S. and Turkish operations, before moving to Azerbaijan's state-owned energy company SOCAR.
Her subsequent positions included CFO of SOCAR Türkiye's natural gas business unit, finance director of STAR Refinery and director of internal audit. She most recently served as CFO of the Turkish Investment Fund.
In a LinkedIn post announcing her appointment, Sarikaya highlighted the scale of the investment program and the company's ambitions for Africa's industrial development.
"The company has just closed Africa’s biggest IPO ever, with investors from around 120 countries, and is now preparing an expansion that will double its capacity to 1.4 million barrels a day," she wrote.
She added that the opportunity to contribute to "building Africa's industrial future and energy independence from the ground up" was a key reason for joining.
Dangote Petroleum & Petrochemicals moves ahead with a $14.3 billion expansion program designed to double its refining capacity from 700,000 to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029, according to the company's IPO prospectus.
The project involves building a second processing facility alongside the existing complex near Lagos, using the same engineering plans and contractors to keep the construction schedule on track.
The expansion is expected to make the site one of the world's largest refining complexes, matching the capacity of India's Jamnagar refinery.
The expansion is part of Dangote Group's broader Vision 2030 strategy, which aims to increase the conglomerate's earnings to $100 billion by 2030.
The group's investment plans also include quadrupling fertilizer production capacity to 12 million tons annually from 3 million tons, alongside investments in infrastructure, pipelines, ports, gas and power.
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