By Our Correspondent
The unprecedented rush by retail investors to subscribe to the Dangote Refinery initial public offering (IPO) on Monday overwhelmed some digital investment platforms, with Bamboo and Cowrywise experiencing service disruptions shortly after the N525-per-share offer opened to the public. The two platforms reported unusually heavy traffic as investors scrambled to secure shares in the landmark offer, which has a minimum subscription of 10 shares, worth N5,250.
Bamboo told users it was experiencing “much higher than expected traffic” as investors tried to access the Dangote IPO, making it difficult for some users to log into the app. Cowrywise similarly said it was “seeing more traffic than usual” and that its technical team was working to restore normal service. Cowrywise subsequently announced that its services had resumed at about 1:21 p.m. The surge underscored the extraordinary retail interest generated by Africa’s largest-ever IPO.
The disruption came as subscriptions surged following the opening of the N2.15 trillion offer, which seeks to raise about $1.6 billion through the sale of 4.1 billion shares. Reports said subscriptions reached roughly N1.5 trillion within six hours, highlighting the scale of demand and the growing appetite among Nigerian retail investors for direct participation in the capital market. The episode also exposed the need for digital investment platforms to prepare for unprecedented spikes in traffic as financial products become increasingly accessible through fintech channels.