Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has launched what supporters call a landmark offering for Nigeria and broader African markets. On Sept. 14, he opened an initial public offering for shares in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO is offering 4.1 billion new ordinary shares at 525 naira (₦525), or about 40 cents. A minimum purchase of 10 shares (about ₦5,250, or $3.95) is required. If all shares are sold, the offering will raise about ₦2.15 trillion (roughly $1.6 billion), with the total potentially reaching $2.1 billion. The offering is scheduled to close on Oct. 13.
Dangote comes from a well-known merchant family in West Africa. His great-grandfather, Alhassan Dantata, was one of the wealthiest traders during British rule. Dangote studied business at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, then returned to Nigeria with a loan from an uncle to start trading cement, sugar, rice, and other goods. His trading business grew into the Dangote Group, which now includes cement, sugar, salt, fertilizer, and energy.
The Dangote Group has several publicly traded companies on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and already offers investment stocks. The three major Dangote stocks are: Dangote Cement PLC (Ticker: DANGCEM); Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC (Ticker: DANGSUGAR or DANGSUG); and NASCON Allied Industries PLC (Ticker: NASCON).
The Dangote refinery near Lagos, which cost about $20 billion to construct, started operating in 2024. It is important to Nigeria’s goal of relying less on imported fuel. Reuters reported that the company plans to spend $14.3 billion to expand the refinery, doubling its capacity from about 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million by 2029.
The Associated Press reported that during the IPO’s launch at the NGX, Dangote called the offering a “People’s IPO,” saying the point was to widen participation in the ownership of his companies and share prosperity with the people. “We are all going to fully share all our prosperity with the people, and that is why we call it the people’s IPO,” Dangote said. In company statements, he has described the listing as a way to democratize ownership, create jobs, conserve foreign exchange, and allow Nigerians, Africans and global investors to participate in one of the continent’s most transformative industrial projects.
Dangote said small retail investors who want to invest ₦50,000 (about $38) or ₦100,000 (about $75) should be given priority over large institutional investors. People can do so through NGX Invest or via digital investment apps and platforms such as Bamboo, PiggyVest, and Cowrywise.
Dangote has said that his company might go public in the United States within the next three to four years. In the meantime, the refinery shares are expected to be traded on the Nigerian Exchange following the offer period.
If the refinery succeeds as promised, its public offering could become Africa’s largest share sale and push other African industrial giants to list their companies on the continent.
