By Felix Olukayode
Aliko Dangote has reportedly blamed difficulties prospective investors faced in accessing the share offer for the failure of his refinery’s historic Initial Public Offering (IPO) to attract the targeted 10 million investors, despite receiving orders worth approximately ₦6.4 trillion.
The $20 billion Dangote Refinery had launched the offer, branded the ‘People’s IPO’, to give ordinary Nigerians and investors across Africa an opportunity to own a stake in the facility. However, Dangote said time constraints and challenges in accessing the offer prevented many interested investors from participating, leaving the exercise short of its ambitious investor target.
The IPO offered 4.1 billion shares at ₦525 each and was extended following overwhelming demand. Although the offer attracted orders worth about ₦6.4 trillion, the number of participating investors fell below the 10 million target, highlighting the gap between the financial value of subscriptions and the number of ordinary people reached.
Applications reportedly came from investors in 120 countries, including every African country. However, regulatory hurdles and difficulties accessing the offer complicated efforts to broaden participation across the continent, undermining the ambition of making the refinery’s ownership widely accessible.
Despite missing its investor target, the strong subscription demand represents significant interest in the refinery, which Dangote had sought to transform into a widely owned African industrial asset.
The shortfall, however, raises questions about the accessibility of an offer designed to give millions of ordinary Africans a stake in one of the continent’s biggest industrial investments.