President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has attributed the failure of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s initial public offering (IPO) to attract its targeted 10 million investors to limited awareness and difficulties accessing the share offer.
Speaking at the 25th annual conference of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in Lagos, Dangote explained that many prospective investors were either unaware of the offer or did not know how to participate.
He said the refinery attracted millions of investors but fell short of its participation target, despite efforts to make the share offer accessible to a wider section of the public.
According to him, the time available for the offer also contributed to the shortfall.
The IPO was designed to expand public participation in the ownership of the refinery, allowing Nigerians to acquire shares in the facility rather than limiting investment opportunities to major institutional investors.
The offer involved 4.1 billion shares priced at N525 each, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares valued at N5,250.
It opened on September 14 and was extended to October 27 to give more prospective investors an opportunity to participate.
Dangote’s comments point to the importance of investor awareness and accessible investment channels in efforts to deepen retail participation in Nigeria’s capital market.
While the refinery attracted substantial financial interest, the failure to reach its 10 million-investor target suggests that strong demand for an investment opportunity does not automatically translate into widespread participation among individual Nigerians.
The final number of investors who participated in the offer was yet to be confirmed at the time of his remarks.
