Jim Ovia, Tony Elumelu Attend Dangote Refinery IPO Signing Ceremony

Chairman of Zenith Bank Jim Ovia and Chairman of Heirs Holdings Tony Elumelu are among other financial experts attending the historic Dangote Refinery Initial Public Offering signing ceremony holding in Lagos on Monday. 

The event will see the private refinery offer 4.1 billion ordinary shares of $0.000013 each for subscription at ₦525.00 per share.

The ceremony, led by the leadership of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, headed by Aliko Dangote, President/Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, marks the refinery’s first public offer since its inauguration in 2023, after nearly 10 years of construction and an investment of approximately $20 billion.

Located in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, it has a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, making it Africa’s largest single-train refinery.

Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the launch of the IPO, “paving the way for what could become one of the largest capital market transactions in Nigeria’s history”, the company said.

The listing is expected on September 14, according to a company official.

Proceeds from the public float are intended to fund a massive expansion of the Lagos-based facility, raising processing capacity from its current operational baseline of 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd.

Achieving that target would make it the largest operating oil refinery in the world, surpassing India’s Jamnagar complex.

The capital raise follows a $2.5 billion private placement completed in July.

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At the offer price of ₦525 per share, the market valuation of the refinery stands at approximately $47 billion.

If fully subscribed, the listing will single-handedly increase total market capitalisation on the NGX by an estimated 30 to 40 per cent.

To attract both institutional and retail buyers, the company has proposed paying dividends in US dollars, leveraging foreign exchange revenues generated from refined product and petrochemical exports to buffer investors against local currency volatility.

The Dangote Refinery was commissioned in May 2023.

While the refinery currently meets more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic petrol demand, long-term returns remain tied to crude feedstock availability, export growth, and refining margins.

Data from the Africa Finance Corporation indicates that African nations spend over $230 billion annually on imported commodities, with refined fuel accounting for more than 70 per cent of regional consumption. The Dangote Group is positioning its refining capacity to address this regional deficit.

As part of its broader footprint, the group also plans to break ground on a 700,000-bpd coastal facility in Lamu, Kenya, on 30 September.

The upcoming September 14 public offering will serve as a key indicator of market liquidity on the domestic exchange and investor demand for large-scale industrial assets.