Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE has secured approval from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to proceed with an initial public offering that could become Africa’s largest-ever equity offering, following a $2.5 billion private placement completed earlier this year.
The refinery will offer 4.1 billion ordinary shares at ₦525 per share, potentially raising approximately ₦2.15 trillion ($1.55 billion-$1.63 billion) if fully subscribed. The SEC has also registered the company’s existing 120.13 billion ordinary shares, putting the implied equity value of the refinery at approximately $47 billion at the IPO offer price.
The offer is scheduled to open on 14 September 2026, with a formal signing ceremony with the Nigerian Exchange expected in the coming days. The transaction also includes a 15% greenshoe option, allowing the company to accommodate additional demand. Proceeds from the IPO will be used principally to support the refinery’s planned expansion, which is expected to more than double its current capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.
The IPO comes less than two months after Dangote Refinery completed a $2.5 billion private placement, in what was described as Africa’s largest publicly disclosed primary equity private placement by value.
The transaction initially contemplated the issuance of 3 billion shares at $0.35 per share, targeting approximately $1 billion and implying a valuation of about $39.1 billion. Strong investor demand resulted in the offer being increased to approximately $2.5 billion, representing about 6% of the company and lifting the implied valuation to roughly $40 billion.
The private placement was 3.7 times oversubscribed, reflecting substantial institutional and strategic investor appetite for exposure to the refinery and its expansion plans.
The minimum subscription was set at 1 million shares, equivalent to $350,000, with additional applications permitted in multiples of 500,000 shares. Investors were subject to a 365-day lock-up period from allotment.
Africa Finance Corporation led a consortium of strategic investors in the placement. Other participants included an investment vehicle facilitated by the African Export-Import Bank, international and African institutional investors, sovereign-linked entities, development finance institutions and high-net-worth individuals. The private placement provided additional equity capital ahead of the IPO and formed part of a broader financing strategy to strengthen the refinery’s balance sheet and support its next phase of expansion.
Located within the Lekki Free Zone in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is the world’s largest single-train refinery. The approximately $20 billion integrated complex has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and has tested and operated at production levels of around 700,000 barrels per day. Beyond refining, the complex includes a polypropylene plant and a dedicated power facility.
Since commencing operations, the refinery has altered Nigeria’s refined petroleum products market by reducing the country’s dependence on imports while creating capacity to export refined products into African and European markets, including jet fuel.
The planned expansion to 1.4 million barrels per day would further increase the refinery’s scale and could strengthen its position as a major regional refining and export hub.
Vetiva Advisory Services Limited is acting as the Lead Issuing House for the IPO. The wider listing process has also involved Stanbic IBTC Capital and FirstCap, which were previously appointed as joint issuing houses and financial advisers.
The IPO represents the next stage in Dangote Refinery’s capital-raising strategy, moving the company from a predominantly strategic and institutional ownership structure towards broader participation through the Nigerian capital markets.
At the proposed offer price, the transaction would value one of Africa’s largest industrial assets at approximately $47 billion, while potentially raising more than ₦2 trillion from public-market investors.
The combination of the earlier private placement and proposed IPO provides Dangote Refinery with a substantial equity capital base to fund its expansion while creating a public-market valuation and a broader shareholder base for the business.
If fully subscribed, the offering would rank among the most significant equity transactions ever undertaken in Africa and would represent a landmark transaction for Nigeria’s capital markets.
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