Africa’s biggest public offering
LEKKI FREE ZONE
Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, has confirmed that the refinery’s Initial Public Offering is tentatively scheduled for September — a milestone that will reshape the Nigerian Exchange and potentially create Africa’s most valuable publicly traded industrial asset. The announcement came during a high-profile visit by Femi Otedola, Chairman of First HoldCo, who led top executives on a tour of the sprawling petrochemical complex.
— Aliko Dangote, on investor appetite
Originally, the group considered a $2 billion private placement, but unprecedented interest from institutional and private investors has forced a re-evaluation. Dangote noted that financial advisers are now conducting a rigorous valuation to determine the optimal listing price, with the core objective being to “democratize ownership” — ensuring everyday Nigerians can secure a stake in the refinery.
The refinery’s sheer scale is difficult to overstate. Dangote himself emphasized that the facility will account for “10 percent of the entire America’s production in terms of refining,” and is set to become the largest single-train refinery on the planet. Analysts estimate the complex could be valued at over $30 billion, making its listing a bellwether for African equities. Femi Otedola hailed the project as a liberation from “economic slavery,” adding that Dangote is “a colossus, a genius, probably one of the greatest men that has come out of Africa.”
Beyond the IPO, the refinery has already begun reshaping regional fuel supply, reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum. The public offering will allocate a strategic portion to retail investors, aiming for broad-based ownership — a rarity in mega-cap listings. Management will decide the final equity split between private and public investors closer to the listing date.
