Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has opened what has been described as Africa’s largest ever share sale, offering the public a stake of roughly 3% in Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals.
The initial public offering could raise as much as $2.1bn (£1.6bn). Dangote Group said it was selling 4.1 billion shares in the refinery at 525 naira each, seeking to raise 2.15 trillion naira ($1.6 billion). The price implies a valuation of about 63 trillion naira ($47.59 billion) for the refinery.
The minimum investment is 10 shares, costing about $4. Investors can apply until October 13, when the books will close. Trading could begin in late November, although no precise date has been given.
Dangote said the offer was designed to make the refinery accessible to ordinary investors as well as to fund its next phase of growth. “This is the IPO for the people. There is no segregation on who can own the shares,” he said.
The company is targeting approximately 10 million retail investors. Whether it reaches that number, and the final amount raised, will depend on demand during the month-long offer.
The sale follows a $2.5 billion private placement of refinery shares in July. That transaction drew institutional investors, while the new offering is aimed at expanding public ownership.
The refinery started production in 2024 after Dangote Group built it over 10 years at a cost of $20 billion. It was inaugurated in 2023. The facility is in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, having first been announced in 2013 with an initial estimated cost of $19 billion. Construction began in 2017.
The refinery now supplies more than 70% of Nigeria’s energy consumption, according to the information released with the offering. It is described as the seventh-largest refinery in the world.
Its current processing capacity has been put at 650,000 barrels per day, while the company said it plans to increase capacity from 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day. The money from the IPO is intended to help finance that expansion.
Chief Executive Alhaji Aliko Dangote said the transaction had two purposes: raising capital for the refinery’s expansion and widening the base of its owners. The offering will test retail demand for a stake in a facility that has become central to Nigeria’s energy supply, while leaving the final subscription level and eventual funds raised unknown until the sale closes.
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