President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has said the planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery will give ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to own stakes in the $20 billion facility.
Dangote made the disclosure on Monday at the formal signing ceremony for the refinery’s IPO in Lagos, attended by prominent business leaders and financial experts, including Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu.
“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,” Dangote said.
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 remain open for 25 days until October 9.
Investors will be able to subscribe to a minimum of 100 shares, valued at ₦52,500, with additional subscriptions available in multiples of 50 shares.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the offer, which is expected to become one of the largest transactions in Nigeria’s capital market.
Located in the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, the refinery was commissioned in 2023 after nearly a decade of construction and an investment estimated at about $20 billion. With a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, it is Africa’s largest single-train refinery.
The company plans to use proceeds from the IPO to expand the facility, with a long-term target of increasing its processing capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day. If achieved, the expansion would make the facility the world’s largest operating oil refinery, surpassing India’s Jamnagar complex.
The public offering follows a $2.5 billion private placement completed in July.
At ₦525 per share, the refinery is being valued at approximately $47 billion. A fully subscribed offering is expected to significantly increase the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange.
To attract both institutional and retail investors, the company has proposed dollar-denominated dividend payments, supported by foreign exchange earnings from refined petroleum products and petrochemical exports.
Dangote Refinery currently supplies more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic petrol demand, while its future performance will depend on crude oil supply, export growth and refining margins.
The company is also seeking to expand its regional footprint, with plans to break ground on a 700,000-barrel-per-day coastal refinery in Lamu, Kenya, on September 30.
The September 14 IPO is expected to be a major test of investor appetite, market liquidity and the ability of Nigeria’s capital market to absorb large-scale industrial investments.