Aliko hints at 10% Dangote refinery shares listing on NGX
By Seun Ibiyemi
The Nigerian capital market is buzzing with anticipation for what could be its most significant listing to date, as the Dangote Group announced plans to offer up to 10% of its massive refinery on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited within the next year.
This strategic move, confirmed by President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alh.Aliko Dangote, signals a major step toward integrating Africa’s largest industrial project into the domestic capital market.
Market analysts are calling it a potential game-changer that could substantially deepen NGX’s liquidity and draw a fresh wave of global institutional investors.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with S&P Global, Dangote revealed the listing would follow the successful model established by the public offerings of Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar Refinery.
He clarified that the shares would be released in a measured approach, calibrated according to both investor appetite and the overall depth of the market.
“We don’t want to keep more than 65 percent–70 percent,” Dangote stated, underscoring the long-term plan for partial divestment. He added that the shares would be released "in phases to allow for broad participation while maintaining stability in the market."
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, located in Lekki, Lagos, already operates at an enormous 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity. However, the company is not stopping there, with current expansion plans aiming to reach 700,000 bpd by the end of 2025. Critically, Dangote unveiled an even more ambitious vision: doubling production to 1.4 million bpd. This expansion would position the complex as the world’s largest refinery, surpassing the scale of Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar facility in India.
Capital market experts universally agree that the entry of a company of the Dangote Refinery’s magnitude is a seismic event for the Nigerian Exchange. Amid ongoing market reforms and renewed investor optimism which recently saw the All-Share Index surge past the 153,000-point mark and market capitalization near N100 trillion, the refinery’s debut is expected to significantly boost the NGX’s market capitalization and amplify its global visibility.
The planned partial divestment, Dangote confirmed, is intended to raise crucial capital to finance the refinery’s continued expansion and new petrochemical ventures.
These include projects for polypropylene, linear alkylbenzene, and base oils. The billionaire also confirmed that his team is actively exploring strategic partnerships with Middle Eastern investors to finance this next phase of colossal growth.
“Our business concept is going to change. Instead of being 100 percent Dangote-owned, we’ll have other partners,” Dangote explained, stressing that collaboration is key to driving the refinery’s future growth. Currently, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) holds a 7.2% stake in the refinery, a shareholding that may increase as the expansion moves forward.
If successful, the listing will not only represent the largest industrial listing in Africa’s history, but it will also solidify the NGX’s reputation as a vital hub for large-scale energy and infrastructure financing, thereby cementing Nigeria’s market rebound.