Juliet Oladele, Reporting
LAGOS — Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, has declared that ordinary Nigerians – including his drivers, cooks and household staff – will have the opportunity to own a piece of the continent’s largest refinery as the company prepares for a historic Initial Public Offering.
Speaking at the IPO signing ceremony in Lagos on Monday, the President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited framed the public offering as a watershed moment for economic inclusion in Nigeria.
“What we are trying to achieve is to make sure our drivers, cooks, servants, and everybody have the opportunity of having stakes in the refinery,” Dangote declared to an audience of financial luminaries, including Zenith Bank Chairman Jim Ovia and Heirs Holdings Chairman Tony Elumelu.
The IPO will see the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery offer 4.1 billion ordinary shares for subscription at ₦525.00 per share, with a par value of $0.000013 each.
The official application list opens on 14th September and will run for 25 days, closing on 9th October. Investors can participate with a minimum subscription of 100 ordinary shares, valued at ₦52,500, and in multiples of 50 shares thereafter.
The ceremony, which took place at Eko Hotels in Lagos, marks the refinery’s first public offer since its inauguration in 2023, following nearly a decade of construction and an investment of approximately $20 billion.
‘One of Largest Capital Market Transactions’
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the launch, paving the way for what the company describes as “one of the largest capital market transactions in Nigeria’s history”.
Proceeds from the public float are intended to fund a massive expansion of the Lagos-based facility, raising processing capacity from its current operational baseline of 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.
Achieving that target would make it the largest operating oil refinery in the world, surpassing India’s Jamnagar complex.
At the offer price of ₦525 per share, the market valuation of the refinery stands at approximately $47 billion. If fully subscribed, the listing will single-handedly increase total market capitalisation on the Nigerian Exchange Group by an estimated 30 to 40 per cent.
Dollar Dividends to Protect Investors
To attract both institutional and retail buyers, the company has proposed paying dividends in US dollars, leveraging foreign exchange revenues generated from refined product and petrochemical exports to shield investors against local currency volatility.
The capital raise follows a $2.5 billion private placement completed in July.
The Dangote Refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, currently meets more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic petrol demand. However, long-term returns remain tied to crude feedstock availability, export growth and refining margins.
Regional Ambitions
Data from the Africa Finance Corporation indicates that African nations spend over $230 billion annually on imported commodities, with refined fuel accounting for more than 70 per cent of regional consumption. The Dangote Group is positioning its refining capacity to address this regional deficit.
As part of its broader footprint, the group also plans to break ground on a 700,000-barrel-per-day coastal facility in Lamu, Kenya, on 30th September.
The upcoming public offering will serve as a key indicator of market liquidity on the domestic exchange and investor demand for large-scale industrial assets in Nigeria.
