LAGOS, Sept 14 – Demand for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE initial public offering has overwhelmed some Nigerian investment platforms, highlighting the scale of retail investor interest in Africa’s largest share sale.
The IPO opened on the Nigerian Exchange in Lagos on Monday, prompting a sharp increase in traffic to digital investment platforms that are facilitating subscriptions.
Bamboo, one of the investment apps available to investors seeking to participate in the offering, experienced login difficulties shortly after the share sale opened as an unusually large number of users attempted to access the platform.
Bamboo acknowledged the disruption on its official X account, attributing the problem to traffic levels that exceeded expectations.
“Hey everyone, we’re getting a much higher-than-expected traffic trying to get into the Dangote IPO, and it’s making it difficult for some users to log into the Bamboo app.”
“We’re working on a fix, and it will be up and running shortly.”
The platform did not provide a specific timeframe for the restoration of normal access but said it was working to resolve the disruption.
The surge in activity has also translated into a significant increase in new accounts. Bamboo recorded 40% more account openings during the past week than in the whole of May, previously its strongest month on record, according to a company spokesperson cited by Bloomberg.
The spike underscores the unusually broad retail interest surrounding Dangote Refinery’s public offering, as investors seek exposure to one of Nigeria’s most prominent industrial assets.
The IPO comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at ₦525 each, with investors able to subscribe for as few as 10 shares. The offering is designed to raise capital for the refinery’s expansion while broadening ownership among Nigerian and international investors.
The scale of the response is placing additional pressure on the digital infrastructure supporting Nigeria’s growing retail investment market. Investment apps and fintech platforms have become increasingly important channels for individual investors participating in capital-market transactions.
For Dangote Refinery, the early surge in demand provides an indication of the public attention surrounding the IPO, while for Nigeria’s investment platforms, the disruption demonstrates the challenge of accommodating sudden spikes in retail participation during major capital-market events.
