LAGOS, Nigeria — Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has priced its planned initial public offering (IPO) at 525 naira per share, seeking to raise about 2.15 trillion naira ($1.63 billion) as the giant Nigerian refinery opens its ownership to the public.
The company signed the IPO documents in Lagos on Monday, clearing a major step towards what is expected to become Africa’s largest-ever share offering.
The IPO will involve 4.1 billion shares, with subscriptions scheduled to run from September 14 to October 13, 2026, if the offering proceeds according to the announced timetable.
At the offer price, the refinery is being valued at close to $50 billion on an enlarged share-capital basis.
“We are opening ownership of this strategic asset to a broader community of investors and creating an opportunity for Nigerians to participate directly in its future growth and value creation,” Dangote said.
Dangote refinery targets $1.63 billion from IPO
The planned public offering will see investors buy newly issued shares in one of Africa’s largest industrial projects.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery currently has about 120.13 billion shares outstanding. At 525 naira per share, those existing shares imply a value of roughly $47 billion.
Once the proposed 4.1 billion new shares are issued, the total share count would rise to approximately 124.23 billion.
Using the exchange rate applied to the offering, the enlarged company would have an implied equity value of about 65.22 trillion naira, or $49.35 billion.
The valuation places the refinery among the continent’s most valuable industrial companies and reflects investor expectations around its production capacity, profitability and planned expansion.
Refinery reports $1.82 billion net income
The IPO comes after the refinery posted strong financial results during the first half of 2026.
The facility generated $13.91 billion in revenue in the six months to June, according to the company’s figures.
It reported $2.50 billion in gross profit, $2.60 billion in EBITDA and $1.82 billion in net income over the period.
The results mark a significant shift for a project that required billions of dollars in investment before reaching large-scale commercial production.
Built near Lagos at an estimated cost of about $20 billion, the refinery began operations in 2024.
It reached its stated 650,000-barrel-a-day nameplate capacity in February 2026 and has subsequently recorded throughput of about 700,000 barrels per day, according to the company.
$14.3 billion expansion planned
Dangote plans to invest a further $14.3 billion to expand the refinery’s processing capacity.
The expansion is expected to increase capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029, more than doubling the facility’s original nameplate capacity.
The planned investment is central to the company’s longer-term growth strategy and could further increase the refinery’s importance to Nigeria’s domestic fuel market and regional petroleum trade.
The IPO will therefore provide investors with exposure not only to the refinery’s current operations but also to its planned expansion.
IPO targets ordinary Nigerians
Dangote is deliberately positioning the IPO as a mass-market investment opportunity rather than an offering aimed only at institutional investors.
The minimum subscription has been set at 10 shares, costing 5,250 naira, or approximately $3.97 at the exchange rate used for the offer.
The relatively low entry point is intended to allow millions of Nigerians to acquire a direct stake in the refinery.
The company is targeting as many as 10 million Nigerian investors, including lower-income earners and Dangote employees such as drivers, cooks and managers.
The subscription process will use Bank Verification Number (BVN)-linked applications and digital channels, allowing investors to participate without some of the more cumbersome procedures traditionally associated with major share offerings.
If shareholders ultimately receive dividends, investors could also benefit from the refinery’s future profitability, although any dividend payments would depend on the company’s financial position and decisions by its board and shareholders.
Oversubscription could increase share sale
Demand above the number of shares initially offered could result in a larger issuance.
If the IPO is oversubscribed, the company may issue up to 30 per cent additional shares, subject to regulatory approval.
That could increase the new shares issued from 4.1 billion to approximately 5.33 billion shares.
Such an increase would allow Dangote to raise additional capital while broadening the refinery’s shareholder base.
IPO follows $2.5 billion private placement
The public offering follows a substantial private capital raise completed in July.
The refinery raised $2.5 billion through a private placement that was reportedly 3.7 times oversubscribed, implying a valuation of approximately $41.7 billion.
The latest IPO valuation is therefore significantly higher than the valuation attached to the private placement.
Dangote has also secured a $1 billion underwriting programme, including a $400 million commitment for the IPO.
The underwriting arrangement provides the company with additional protection should demand from investors fall below expectations.
Why Dangote is opening the refinery to investors
The IPO represents a significant change in the ownership structure of an asset that has been overwhelmingly controlled by Dangote.
By bringing the refinery to the Nigerian stock market, the company is seeking to create a wider shareholder base while raising capital for its expansion plans.
For Nigerian investors, the offering provides an opportunity to own part of a major domestic industrial project that has become increasingly important to the country’s energy sector.
The strategy also fits Dangote’s broader ambition of creating large-scale industrial assets capable of serving Nigeria and other African markets.
Dangote eyes second refinery in Kenya
The Nigerian refinery expansion is also being accompanied by plans for another major refining project in East Africa.
Dangote is planning a 700,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Kenya, with Lamu identified as the proposed location.
The project has been estimated at about $17 billion, with construction expected to take roughly 30 months.
If implemented, the Kenyan refinery would give Dangote a second large refining base on the continent and extend the company’s model beyond Nigeria.
The project would also target a regional market that remains heavily dependent on imported petroleum products.
However, the Kenyan refinery remains a planned project, and its eventual construction, financing, capacity and timeline will depend on the completion of the necessary investment and regulatory processes.
