By Precious Mark
Africa’s largest building materials manufacturer, Dangote Cement Plc, has prioritized the London Stock Exchange (LSE) over the Dubai Financial Market for its long-awaited international secondary listing.
The decision follows a strategic evaluation that found the United Kingdom market far more compatible with the company’s business model and growth timeline.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Mariya Dangote, Executive Director for the group’s cement and food divisions and daughter of billionaire founder Aliko Dangote revealed that cumbersome regulatory compliance requirements in Dubai would have delayed the listing by several years.
According to the executive, the group seriously evaluated listing in the United Arab Emirates because Dangote Industries maintains its international family investment office in Dubai, headed by her sister, Halima Dangote.
However, the complex regulatory architecture required for a primary-level international listing in the Gulf state made that option impractical.
“It will happen maybe by the end of this year you know, the secondary listing. We are planning to list in London because, after comparing many stock exchanges, London is the one that is most compatible with our business,” Dangote told Bloomberg.
Addressing why Dubai was dropped despite the family’s established presence there, she explained, “Because Halima is running the family office in Dubai, we initially considered a secondary listing there. But the rules would make it hard for us to list in Dubai due to numerous regulatory compliance requirements that would take us years to satisfy. We have been discussing this listing for almost five or six years, if not longer.”
Mariya Dangote expressed confidence that the long-expected listing will finally materialize in 2026, noting that extensive pre-listing technical, legal, and financial preparations have been concluded without operational roadblocks.
“I am confident this is the year because we have completed all our background checks and preparations. As I speak, our lawyers, financiers, and internal teams are working around the clock to ensure nothing halts the process. Currently, there are no constraints whatsoever,” she stated.
The proposed secondary quotation in London will enable international institutional investors across Europe and North America to trade Dangote Cement equity directly in foreign currency, deepening the company’s valuation while preserving its primary listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).