Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is advancing plans to list his oil-refining business across multiple stock exchanges on the continent in what could become a landmark transaction for African capital markets.
The proposed share sale for Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals is being structured as a cross-border listing, according to a report by Bloomberg on Monday.
The proposed listing will mark a first-of-its-kind pan-African initial public offering, noting that Dangote has already appointed Stanbic IBTC Capital, Vetiva Advisory Services and FirstCap Limited as advisers for the transaction.
FirstCap Chief Executive Officer, Ukandu Ukandu, was reported to have confirmed the mandate in an email.
“The plan is to structure a pan-African IPO,” Frank Mwiti, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nairobi exchange, said after a meeting last week in Lagos between Dangote and heads of African exchanges.
A spokesman for the Dangote Group was reported to have confirmed the meeting but declined to provide further details.
If executed, the listing across multiple African exchanges would deepen liquidity in regional equity markets, including Nigeria, which is positioning for a return to the FTSE Russell frontier-markets benchmark.
The refinery, currently processing 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is central to Dangote’s broader expansion strategy.
Already, plans are underway to scale capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day over the next three years, potentially putting it in direct competition with facilities owned by Mukesh Ambani in India.
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To support this expansion, the African Export-Import Bank recently underwrote $2.5 billion of a $4 billion syndicated financing facility.
The refinery upgrade forms part of a wider $40 billion investment programme by Dangote over the next five years, spanning petrochemicals and fertiliser production.
Beyond Nigeria, the refinery has already begun exporting refined petroleum products across Africa, where supply constraints have worsened amid geopolitical tensions linked to the US-Israel conflict with Iran.
Dangote recently held talks with officials of the Nigerian Exchange Group and members of the African Securities Exchanges Association to explore mechanisms for broad-based investor participation in the planned IPO.
Pinnacle Daily earlier reported that the anticipated listing has already stirred strong market interest.
Both retail and institutional investors are closely watching the deal, drawn by the prospect of “buy in naira, earn in dollars,” which is being viewed as a potential hedge against currency volatility.
While some investors have described the opportunity as “a game-changer” and “a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” others have urged caution, warning that the deal may be “too good to be true” and highlighting potential risks around valuation, market structure and execution.
Alongside refining expansion, the project also includes plans to boost polypropylene production capacity from 900,000 metric tonnes per annum to 2.4 million metric tonnes annually, further strengthening its position as a major industrial hub.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
