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Aliko Dangote's oil refinery is seeking about $5 billion in an initial public offering expected to conclude in October, in what would be the largest share sale ever conducted in Africa, a source with knowledge of the plan told Reuters.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE has filed its application with Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission. A second source with direct knowledge said approval is expected within weeks, allowing a prospectus to be published in September.
The primary listing will be on the Nigerian Exchange. At $5 billion the offering would account for just over 4% of the exchange's All Share Index, whose total capitalisation stood at $116 billion on Tuesday.
The final figure depends on what the Nigerian regulator approves.
Five exchanges want in
What distinguishes this from a domestic listing is how many other markets are trying to take part.
Stock exchanges in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana and Rwanda have held a series of meetings with the refinery's advisers in recent months. Kenyan capital markets could absorb as much as $500 million of the total, according to the first source, who described appetite among local institutions including pension funds as tremendous.
Because a formal dual listing across five jurisdictions is impractical on this timetable, other exchanges are examining structured routes. Those include depositary receipts and instruments that mirror the price of the Nigerian shares, letting local investors buy exposure without the refinery listing separately in each country.
Dangote is reported to want the offering treated as a pan-African venture, with the aim of allowing capital markets across the continent to participate in what people close to the deal describe as an African champion.
Investors will be given the option of being paid in naira or in dollars.
What the market has already paid
The pricing is where ambition and evidence diverge.
Dangote has spoken of a $50 billion valuation. The refinery raised about $1 billion in a private placement in June, offering 3 billion ordinary shares at $0.35 each, which valued the company at roughly $39.1 billion. Demand exceeded $2 billion, and the shares carry a 365-day lock-up with a minimum subscription of one million shares, or $350,000.
Reuters reports that the recent placement implied a valuation of around $40 billion. Listed refiners in other markets trade at considerably smaller multiples, which sets up a negotiation between what Dangote wants and what comparable companies fetch.
Neither source had information on how large a stake will be offered.
What changed the numbers
The refinery's earnings improved sharply for a reason outside Nigeria.
It emerged as a substantial winner from the Iran war, selling jet fuel across Africa and into western Europe as countries dealt with shortages, according to Reuters. Aviation fuel commands premium pricing during supply disruption, and a 650,000 barrel-a-day plant able to export into Europe was positioned to capture it.
That performance strengthens the case Dangote takes to investors in October.
Where the money goes
Proceeds are intended to expand the Lagos plant and to replicate it in East Africa.
Dangote has agreed with his technology licensor to raise capacity from 650,000 barrels a day to 1.4 million within three years, which would make it the largest refinery in the world, displacing Reliance's Jamnagar complex in India. He is also planning a refinery on the Kenyan coast in partnership with East African governments, though the source did not know whether IPO proceeds would fund it.
His stated objective is to reduce Africa's dependence on imported fuel and eventually turn the continent into an exporter.
Estimates of his personal fortune range between $31 billion and $35 billion. He has said repeatedly that he is among the few African billionaires who have kept their wealth at home rather than holding it offshore, and the structure of this offering, with a Lagos primary listing and continental participation, is consistent with that position.
The $20 billion plant began operating in 2024 and reached its nameplate capacity in early 2026.
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