President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, on Monday said the planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery would give ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to own shares in the facility.
Dangote made the remarks while delivering the opening address at the signing ceremony for the refinery’s IPO in Lagos.
“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,” he said.
Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, were among prominent financial sector figures who attended the ceremony.
Under the IPO, the privately owned refinery will offer 4.1 billion ordinary shares with a nominal value of $0.000013 each at ₦525 per share.
The offer will open on September 14, 2026, and remain open for 25 days, closing on October 9. Investors can subscribe to a minimum of 100 shares, valued at ₦52,500, and in multiples of 50 shares thereafter.
The offering marks the refinery’s first public share sale since it was inaugurated in 2023, following nearly a decade of construction and an investment estimated at about $20 billion.
Located in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, the facility has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, making it Africa’s largest single-train refinery.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the IPO, which Dangote Industries described as potentially one of the largest capital-market transactions in Nigeria’s history.
The proceeds will be used to finance an expansion of the Lagos facility, with plans to increase its processing capacity from the current operational baseline of 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.
If achieved, the expansion would make the refinery the world’s largest operating oil refinery, surpassing India’s Jamnagar refinery complex.
The IPO follows a $2.5 billion private placement completed in July.
At the offer price of ₦525 per share, the refinery’s implied valuation is approximately $47 billion. If fully subscribed, its listing could increase the total market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange by an estimated 30 to 40 per cent.
To attract both institutional and retail investors, the company has proposed paying dividends in US dollars. The arrangement is expected to leverage foreign-exchange earnings from refined-product and petrochemical exports and provide investors with some protection against naira volatility.
The Dangote Refinery was commissioned in May 2023 and currently supplies more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic petrol demand, according to the company.
However, its long-term performance will depend on factors including access to crude feedstock, export growth and global refining margins.
The Africa Finance Corporation estimates that African countries spend more than $230 billion annually on imported commodities, with refined petroleum products accounting for more than 70 per cent of regional consumption. Dangote Group is positioning the refinery to help address the continent’s persistent fuel-supply deficit.
As part of its wider expansion plans, the group is also expected to break ground on a 700,000-barrel-per-day coastal refinery in Lamu, Kenya, on September 30.
The September 14 IPO will be closely watched as a test of investor appetite and market liquidity on the Nigerian Exchange, particularly for large-scale industrial assets.
