Alhaji Aliko Dangote has described the public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals as an opportunity to broaden ownership of one of Africa’s largest industrial assets and allow Nigerians and other investors to share in its future growth.
Speaking in Lagos on the opening day of the refinery’s Initial Public Offering, IPO, Dangote said the N2.2 trillion offer was driven less by the need for fresh capital and more by a desire to make the refinery’s wealth creation opportunity accessible to a wider pool of investors.
The offer comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at N525 each, with investors able to subscribe for a minimum of 10 shares valued at N5,250. The offer is scheduled to close on October 13.
Dangote said the group had already secured sufficient funding for its expansion plans through a private placement. The company had targeted $1 billion from the private placement and $1.5 billion from the IPO, but demand for the private placement reached about $2.5 billion.
Following allocations, about $1.2 billion was returned to investors, he disclosed.
“We already met all our demands with the private placement. Coming back now to the IPO is actually about making sure that the public can get part of these benefits,” Dangote said.
He said the public offer could give investors exposure to a business with largely dollar-linked revenues and provide opportunities for wealth preservation and growth. He added that dividends paid in dollars could be particularly useful to Nigerians with financial commitments outside the country.
Dangote also projected that the refinery could become Africa’s largest company by the end of 2026, urging Nigerians and Africans to take advantage of the opportunity to become shareholders.
The refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is already supplying Nigeria while exporting petroleum products to African and international markets. Dangote said its aviation fuel had attracted strong demand in Europe, with production sold out for August and September.
The group is also expanding into petrochemicals, with plans to produce polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene, while exploring the establishment of a refinery in Lamu, Kenya.
Dangote said such expansion would strengthen African industrial capacity and attract more global investment to the continent.
The Chairman of NGX Group, Dr Umar Kwairanga, described the transaction as evidence that Nigeria’s capital market could support businesses operating at global scale. The offer of 4.1 billion shares is expected to raise about N2.15 trillion.
Kwairanga said the transaction would help connect African savings with African enterprises and give investors confidence in the market’s capacity to support major businesses.
Dangote Refinery CEO David Bird described the offer as a “people’s IPO,” saying it was designed to enable Nigerians, members of the diaspora and Africans generally to participate in the asset’s wealth creation.
Access Holdings Chairman Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede also called the transaction historic, citing the refinery’s scale and the strong investor response.
Meanwhile, NGX Group CEO Temi Popoola said investors could access the offer through more than 100 approved channels, including banks, stockbrokers, fintech firms, mobile operators and POS operators.
Dangote said the broader objective was to give Africans a stake in businesses capable of driving the continent’s economic transformation.
