Dangote Refinery has drawn strong investor interest in its planned private placement, with demand approaching $2 billion as preparations intensify for its anticipated stock market listing.
Chairman Aliko Dangote disclosed the development on Wednesday during a visit by Femi Otedola and senior executives of First HoldCo to the refinery and fertiliser complex located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
According to Dangote, investor appetite for the refinery has remained exceptionally strong, with total indications of interest already exceeding the size of the proposed private placement.
He said the company is targeting a market entry by September, as both institutional and private investors continue to push for participation in the multibillion-dollar energy project ahead of its initial public offering (IPO).
Dangote explained that advisers are still assessing valuation and pricing ahead of the planned offering, noting that demand has already run into billions of dollars.
“There is quite a lot of demand in terms of people disturbing us, pushing us that ‘look, we want to buy’. And that is the reason why we are trying to make sure that by September, we will be out there in the market,” he said.
“We have a lot of demand in billions of dollars… already we have people who have actually requested to buy, and we have an amount of almost $2 billion. We are not selling up to that but we will see what we can allocate to them,” he added.
He also indicated that the eventual public offering would be structured to allow broader participation, including Nigerian retail investors.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery, located in Lagos, is one of Africa’s largest industrial projects with a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
Dangote described the facility as a transformative asset for Africa’s energy and manufacturing sector, saying it could eventually account for about 10 per cent of U.S. refining capacity equivalent benchmarks and rank among the largest refineries globally.
He added that the refinery is expected to become one of Africa’s highest-revenue-generating corporate assets and a key driver of industrial growth on the continent.
The billionaire industrialist also compared the long-term ambition of the group to global technology giants such as Amazon and Apple, emphasising value creation for long-term investors.
In April, Dangote had announced plans to list about 10 per cent of the refinery across African stock exchanges as part of broader efforts to expand funding for his industrial empire.
The planned private placement and eventual IPO are expected to deepen capital market participation in one of Africa’s most significant energy investments while strengthening Nigeria’s position as a regional investment hub.
