President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said the planned initial public offering (IPO) of the Dangote Refinery is aimed at giving Nigerians an opportunity to own shares in the facility and benefit from its growth.
Dangote said the refinery was pursuing the public offering after securing the funds required for its immediate needs through a private placement.
He explained that the IPO was not primarily intended to raise funds for the refinery’s operations, but to broaden ownership of the business through the Nigerian capital market.
According to him, the move is part of efforts to create wider participation in the wealth generated by the refinery and provide investors with an opportunity to benefit from its long-term prospects.
The refinery is offering 4.1 billion shares to investors as part of the IPO, which is expected to raise about $1.6 billion if fully subscribed.
Dangote said the group also has broader expansion plans, with about $46 billion earmarked for investments across its businesses.
He added that the group is targeting a market capitalisation of about $350 billion by 2030 and plans to pursue a listing outside Africa within the next three to four years.
The IPO comes as the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery expands its operations and supplies refined petroleum products to the Nigerian and international markets.
