LAGOS, Aug 4 – Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE is preparing to raise approximately $5 billion through an initial public offering (IPO) that could become Africa’s largest-ever stock market listing, according to sources familiar with the transaction.
The fundraising, which is expected to conclude in October, would provide fresh capital to expand the refinery’s operations and support plans to replicate the project with a similar facility in Kenya.
According to sources cited by Reuters, the IPO application has already been submitted to the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is expected to receive regulatory approval in the coming weeks. Following approval, the company is expected to publish its prospectus in September, ahead of the planned offering.
The refinery, majority owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has emerged as a major supplier of refined petroleum products following its commencement of operations in 2024 and achievement of full production capacity earlier this year.
During recent disruptions to global fuel markets linked to the Iran conflict, the refinery increased exports of jet fuel across Africa and into Western Europe, benefiting from heightened international demand.
The proposed IPO is expected to finance further expansion of the refinery’s 650,000-barrel-per-day processing capacity while supporting Dangote’s broader ambition of reducing Africa’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products and positioning the continent as a net exporter of fuels.
The transaction has attracted significant interest from capital markets across Africa. According to one source, stock exchanges in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana and Rwanda have held discussions with the refinery’s advisers about facilitating investor participation in the offering.
Kenyan investors alone could account for as much as $500 million of the targeted fundraising, with the source describing appetite among pension funds and institutional investors as “tremendous.”
The first source also said the refinery is targeting $5 billion from the IPO but noted that the final amount will depend on the structure approved by Nigeria’s securities regulator.
The primary listing is expected to take place on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), where the proposed offering would represent just over 4% of the market capitalisation of the NGX All Share Index, which stood at approximately $116 billion.
The sources said no dual or cross-listing is currently planned in other African markets. Instead, investors outside Nigeria could participate through structured investment products such as global depositary receipts or other exchange-traded instruments linked to the Nigerian-listed shares.
The size of the public stake and the company’s final valuation have not yet been disclosed. However, one source noted that a recent $2.5 billion private placement involving a 6% stake implied a company valuation of around $40 billion.
If achieved, that valuation would rank the refinery among the world’s most valuable standalone refining businesses, although it would exceed the market capitalisations of several established international peers. Turkey’s Tupras, which operates refining capacity comparable to Dangote’s across four refineries, has a market value of roughly $12 billion, while U.S.-listed HF Sinclair, with refining capacity of approximately 678,000 barrels per day, is valued at about $16 billion.
The refinery, which cost approximately $20 billion to build, has become one of the largest industrial investments ever undertaken in Africa. NNPC Limited holds a stake of just over 7% in the business.
In April, Aliko Dangote said the refinery aims to increase production capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day over the long term.
According to one of the sources, the IPO is intended to become a pan-African investment opportunity that allows investors across the continent to participate in what was described as “an African champion.”
The source added that investors will have the option of subscribing to the offering in either Naira or U.S. dollars, while details regarding allocations for regional markets and any underwriting arrangements will be determined as the transaction progresses.
