By Ali Elias
President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, is targeting a valuation of about $50 billion for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals ahead of a planned stock market listing later this year, in what could become the largest public offering in African capital market history.
The proposed listing, expected to involve the sale of up to a 10 per cent stake in the refinery business, could raise approximately $5 billion and significantly deepen investor participation across African markets.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the refinery company is exploring a landmark cross-border public offering that would allow shares to be traded on multiple African stock exchanges, marking one of the continent’s most ambitious capital market transactions to date.
A senior executive at the Dangote Group reportedly confirmed that the projected $50 billion valuation reflects the company’s internal expectations, although details of the transaction structure and final timeline remain under wraps.
The development comes as the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery continues to consolidate its position as a dominant player in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector following the commencement of large-scale operations.
Located in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, the refinery has substantially altered Nigeria’s fuel supply landscape by reducing dependence on imported refined petroleum products and increasing domestic refining capacity.
Discussions around the proposed listing reportedly gained momentum after Dangote met with chief executives of several African stock exchanges under the umbrella of the African Securities Exchanges Association.
Chief Executive Officer of the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Frank Mwiti, who attended the meeting, disclosed that the parties discussed the framework for a pan-African initial public offering.
“The plan is to structure a pan-African IPO,” Mwiti said, noting that the initiative would require collaboration among African exchanges to ease regulatory bottlenecks and facilitate seamless cross-border trading.
The refinery’s planned listing is also expected to support Dangote’s broader expansion ambitions. The company intends to increase refining capacity from the current 650,000 barrels per day to about 1.4 million barrels daily within the next three years, potentially placing the facility among the world’s largest refining operations.
To finance the expansion, the company recently secured significant backing from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which reportedly underwrote $2.5 billion out of a $4 billion syndicated financing facility.
Industry analysts say the proposed listing could transform the scale and depth of African capital markets by attracting institutional and retail investors from across the continent into a strategic infrastructure asset previously held privately.
Financial advisers already appointed for the transaction include Stanbic IBTC Capital, Vetiva Advisory Services and FirstCap Limited.
Chief Executive Officer of FirstCap, Ukandu Ukandu, confirmed that work was already ongoing on the structure of the offering.
The IPO comes amid improving commercial conditions for the refinery, supported by stronger global crude prices, rising domestic fuel demand and growing export volumes to African and European markets.
Since commencing production, the refinery has expanded exports of diesel, aviation fuel and petrol to countries including Ghana, Cameroon, Togo and Tanzania, while also supplying a substantial share of Nigeria’s domestic petrol demand.
Analysts believe the transaction could further cement Dangote’s position as one of Africa’s most influential industrialists while opening a new phase of continental investment integration.
However, the planned listing is also expected to attract close scrutiny from investors assessing issues such as crude supply stability, debt exposure, regulatory risks and long-term profitability in Nigeria’s volatile energy market. The refinery project, which cost an estimated $20 billion and took nearly a decade to complete, has become one of the continent’s most closely watched industrial ventures.