President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has said ordinary Nigerians will have the opportunity to own shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery through its Initial Public Offering.
Dangote made the declaration on Monday at the signing ceremony for the refinery’s IPO held in Lagos.
“What we are trying to achieve is to make sure our drivers, cooks, servants, and everybody have the opportunity of having stakes in the refinery,” he said.
The event was attended by prominent business leaders, including Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu.
The IPO will involve the offer of 4.1 billion ordinary shares at ₦525 per share. The official application list is scheduled to open on September 14, 2026, and close on October 9, 2026.
Investors will be able to subscribe to a minimum of 100 shares, valued at ₦52,500, with subsequent subscriptions available in multiples of 50 shares.
The public offer represents the refinery’s first IPO since it was commissioned in 2023, following nearly a decade of construction and an investment of approximately $20 billion.
Located in the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, the Dangote Refinery has a stated refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, making it Africa’s largest single-train refinery.
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the IPO, which Dangote Industries described as potentially one of the largest capital market transactions in Nigeria’s history.
The company plans to use proceeds from the public offering to finance an expansion that would increase the refinery’s processing capacity from its current operational baseline of about 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.
If achieved, the expansion would make the facility the largest operating oil refinery in the world, surpassing India’s Jamnagar refining complex.
The IPO follows a $2.5 billion private placement completed in July.
At the offer price of ₦525 per share, the refinery is expected to have a market valuation of approximately $47 billion.
If fully subscribed, the listing could increase the total market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange by an estimated 30 to 40 per cent.
The company is also seeking to attract institutional and retail investors by proposing dividend payments in US dollars.
According to the company, the dollar-denominated dividends would be supported by foreign exchange revenues generated from refined petroleum products and petrochemical exports, potentially providing investors with some protection against naira volatility.
Commissioned in May 2023, the refinery currently supplies more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic petrol demand, according to the information provided by the company.
However, its long-term performance will depend on factors including crude oil supply, export growth and refining margins.
The Dangote Group is also positioning the refinery to serve the wider African market, where countries spend billions of dollars annually importing commodities, including refined petroleum products.
Data from the Africa Finance Corporation cited by the company indicates that African countries spend more than $230 billion annually on imported commodities, with refined fuel accounting for more than 70 per cent of regional consumption.
The group plans to further expand its refining footprint, with a 700,000-barrel-per-day coastal facility in Lamu, Kenya, expected to break ground on September 30.
The Dangote Refinery IPO is expected to provide a major test of liquidity on the domestic exchange and investor appetite for large-scale industrial assets.