Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has announced that its ongoing Initial Public Offering (IPO) has attracted subscriptions from investors in more than 90 countries, including 51 of Africa’s 54 nations.
The $1.6 billion IPO, which opened on 14th of September 2026 and now closes on 27th of October, is being positioned as the largest share sale in African history and the continent’s first truly pan-African offering. It aims to broaden ownership of the 700,000 barrels-per-day refinery by attracting up to 10 million retail investors across Nigeria and other African countries.
The IPO has already broken Nigeria’s capital market record on its opening day and surpassed the previous African record within its first 10 days. Demand has come from retail investors, pension funds, institutional investors, asset managers, fintech platforms and members of the investing public.
The company extended the offer by two weeks, from the original 13th of October close to the 27th of October, to allow more investors across Africa to participate. The extension was intended to support market-access initiatives across African jurisdictions, including the expansion of distribution channels and the implementation of depositary receipt programmes to facilitate cross-border participation.
Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote has described the offering as an African rather than simply a Nigerian listing, inviting investors from across the continent and beyond to become shareholders in one of Africa’s most transformational industrial projects. The IPO is part of a plan to fund a doubling of the refinery’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.
Several African countries have opened their markets to the offering, including Uganda, Kenya and Botswana, making it accessible to millions of retail investors across the continent. Nearly 20 per cent of the IPO has been made available to investors in East Africa, with governments such as Kenya and Rwanda also expressing interest in taking equity stakes.
The participation of investors from 51 African countries represents a significant milestone for the continent’s capital markets, demonstrating the potential for cross-border investment in African industrial assets. The IPO is testing the depth of Africa’s investor base and the willingness of retail and institutional investors to back large-scale industrial projects.
For Africa, the Dangote Refinery IPO offers a template for how major industrial assets can be broadened to include wider African ownership. The challenge now is to sustain this momentum and build on the infrastructure that has enabled cross-border participation.
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