Dangote To Sell Multi-billion-dollar Lagos Refinery Shares To Africans

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is advancing plans to list his Lagos-based multi-billion-dollar oil refinery across several stock exchanges in Africa, in what could become the continent’s first pan-African public offering.

The proposed listing, expected to span multiple African bourses simultaneously, is aimed at broadening ownership of the refinery and deepening integration within Africa’s fragmented capital markets.

The development was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Frank Mwiti, following a closed-door meeting in Lagos involving Dangote and heads of various African stock exchanges.

Mwiti said discussions focused on structuring a “pan-African IPO,” noting that the share sale could be executed across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously.

According to him, the arrangement would allow investors in different African countries to buy into the refinery through their local exchanges, a move analysts said could significantly reshape cross-border investment flows across the continent.

Officials of the Dangote Group confirmed that the meeting with exchange operators took place but declined to provide details on timelines, valuation, or regulatory frameworks, fuelling speculation over how advanced the plan is.

If successful, the listing would mark the first time a major African industrial asset is floated simultaneously on multiple exchanges, a development experts said could either strengthen regional capital markets or expose regulatory gaps across jurisdictions.

The refinery, located in Lagos, has a current processing capacity of about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day. However, Dangote is targeting a major expansion that would increase output to around 1.4 million barrels per day within the next three years.

The expansion plan forms part of a broader aggressive growth strategy backed by an estimated $40 billion investment plan over five years, which also includes scaling up fertiliser production and expanding downstream oil operations across Africa.

The project already enjoys significant international financing support. The African Export-Import Bank recently disclosed it had underwritten $2.5 billion as part of a $4 billion syndicated loan for the refinery’s expansion.

The facility has also begun exporting petroleum products to several African countries, capitalising on supply shortages linked to global energy disruptions and geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

Analysts said the refinery’s expansion could position it as a major competitor to global refining giants, including operations linked to Mukesh Ambani, as competition intensifies in the downstream oil sector.

Earlier this month, Dangote also held talks with the Nigerian Exchange Group and the African Securities Exchanges Association to explore regulatory coordination and frameworks that would support cross-border investor participation.

While enthusiasm is building within Africa’s financial sector, analysts caution that the success of the proposed multi-exchange IPO will depend heavily on regulatory harmonisation, currency stability, and investor confidence in the refinery’s long-term profitability.