By Our Correspondent
Nigeria’s $47 billion Dangote Refinery is set to open its ownership to the public on September 14, in what is expected to become Africa’s biggest-ever share sale. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the offer of 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 each, potentially raising about N2.15 trillion ($1.6 billion) for the refinery.
The listing marks a major shift for the 650,000-barrel-per-day Lekki refinery, which until recently was funded primarily by its founder and, more recently, external institutional investors. Aliko Dangote said the IPO proceeds will help finance his ambition to double the refinery’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, alongside further expansion of its petrochemical operations.
The public offer follows a $2.5 billion private equity placement completed in July, which was oversubscribed 3.7 times and was described by the company as Africa’s largest publicly disclosed primary equity private placement. The transaction broadened the refinery’s investor base beyond its founding shareholders and strengthened its capital position ahead of the IPO.
Dangote’s latest move comes as the refinery, which reached its full nameplate capacity in February, continues to play an increasingly important role in Nigeria’s petroleum market. The plant has also reportedly conducted production runs above its 650,000-bpd nameplate capacity, including tests of about 700,000 bpd.
The refinery IPO is only part of a wider expansion drive by the Dangote Group. Reports say Dangote Cement is preparing for a proposed secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, with the company scheduled to hold a Capital Markets Day in London on September 21. Dangote has also announced plans to launch construction of a new refinery on Kenya’s coast on September 30, in partnership with East African governments.
For Nigerian investors, the September 14 offer represents an opportunity to take direct equity in one of Africa’s most ambitious industrial projects. For Dangote, however, the IPO is more than a capital-market exercise: it is a crucial step towards transforming the refinery into a much larger regional energy and petrochemical business, with the proposed 1.4-million-bpd expansion potentially putting it among the world’s largest refining operations.