Dangote announces September date for refinery IPO

Aliko Dangote has announced that the initial public offering (IPO) of Dangote Refinery is on course for September, driven by investor demand he says has already reached billions of dollars.

Dangote, founder and president of the Dangote Group, made the disclosure on Wednesday during a visit by Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, who led top executives on a tour of the refinery and fertiliser plants in the Lekki Free Trade Zone. He also confirmed the target in comments aired on Arise Television on Thursday.

“There is quite a lot of demand in terms of people pushing us, saying we want to buy, we want to buy,” Dangote said. “That is the reason why we are trying to make sure that by September, we will be out there in the market to sell the IPO. But we have a lot of demand in billions of dollars.”

The planned listing will cover the refinery, which reached its full nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day in February, making it the largest refinery in Africa and one of the biggest single-train plants in the world.

On valuation, Dangote said work is still ongoing. “I actually don’t know. The advisers are still doing that. They are still evaluating to see how much we are going to go into the market with,” he said.

The group had previously explored a $2 billion private placement, but Dangote said demand from prospective investors has already surpassed that figure. He added that private investors would not be allowed to absorb the full stake on offer. The refinery also aims to source $5 billion through an initial public offering, equivalent to 10 per cent of its targeted valuation.

“We are not selling up to that, but we’ll see what we can allocate to them. We can see what we can allocate to an IPO,” he said.

Dangote stressed that the broader goal of the listing is public participation, particularly for Nigerians.

“Our target really is to get the larger part of the society to buy. Because it is a very good… I think it’s better you buy… you are looking at this now, people don’t know we are going to have 10 percent of the entire America’s production in terms of refining,” he said. “It’s going to be the largest refinery ever on the earth of this world.”

He added that on current projections, the refinery business alone could generate more revenue than any other company on the continent, underscoring Dangote’s broader ambition to transform Nigeria from a major fuel importer into a continental refining hub.

Otedola Invests $100 million

During the visit, Otedola described the trip as a learning exercise for First HoldCo’s leadership, which has set a target of becoming one of the biggest banks in sub-Saharan Africa and West Africa within five years.

“I spoke to Aliko that please can we visit, come for a retreat and tap into your vision, and it’s been very insightful, very thought-provoking,” Otedola said.

He paid tribute to Dangote, calling him “a colossus,” “a genius,” and “probably one of the greatest men that has come out of Africa,” crediting him with “delivering us out of economic slavery in Nigeria and by extension Africa.”

Otedola, who is the chairman of financial services group First HoldCo Plc, said he will invest $100 million in the proposed private placement of Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

He said investing in the refinery was the reason he sold his holding Geregu Power.

“On a personal note, I have approved him. I’ve been here with him 25 times, so my compensation is that he’s going to allocate to me shares valued at $100 million in the private placement. That was one of the reasons I sold my shares in Geregu Power Plants — to invest in the IPO of Dangote Refinery.”