Africa’s largest oil refinery is nearing a historic stock market debut, with Aliko Dangote confirming the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s initial public offering (IPO) will open in 10 to 12 days, a listing set to become the biggest public share sale in the continent’s history.
Dangote disclosed on Thursday while addressing investors and analysts in Gaborone, Botswana, during a visit to the Southern African nation, Reuters reported.
His remarks add fresh specificity to a listing process that has been building momentum for much of 2026, moving the refinery from years of speculation to what now appears to be an imminent launch.
The timing is no accident. The IPO follows closely on the heels of a $2.5 billion private placement the refinery closed in July, which was oversubscribed 3.7 times its original target and resulted in the issuance of substantial new equity.
The transaction, combined with a more recent $400 million underwriting commitment secured from Marob Strategies and Consulting DIFC Ltd. and Lilium Capital Group, both now serving as co-financial advisers on the deal, has left the refinery’s balance sheet considerably strengthened as it heads into what promoters hope will be a landmark listing.
Dangote himself put a figure on the ambition: the IPO is expected to raise approximately $5 billion, a sum that would eclipse any previous share offering in African financial history and underscore investor appetite for exposure to the continent’s energy infrastructure.
Central to the IPO’s investment pitch is an aggressive expansion plan. The 650,000 barrels-per-day facility, which reached full nameplate capacity in February and has since been tested at rates as high as 700,000 barrels per day, is not resting on those numbers.
Dangote told investors the group intends to double the refinery’s output to 1.4 million barrels per day, a target that would cement its position as one of the largest single-train refining complexes anywhere in the world.
“So we dream that we want to make sure we double the capacity of the refinery, which will take us to 1.4 million barrels per day. The IPO will open in the next 10 to 12 days,” Dangote said.
The refinery has also been a beneficiary of broader dislocations in global energy markets.
Elevated refining margins, driven in part by supply disruptions linked to tensions in the Middle East, have pushed international buyers toward alternative sources of refined fuel, a dynamic that has worked in the Nigerian facility’s favour and strengthened the case being made to prospective shareholders.
The refinery listing is only one piece of a broader flurry of corporate activity Dangote outlined during his Botswana trip.
He confirmed that Dangote Cement Plc, already listed on the Nigerian Exchange, will pursue a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange in October, a move designed to widen the cement giant’s access to international capital and raise its profile among global institutional investors.
Dangote also revealed plans to break ground on a new refinery in Kenya, developed in partnership with East African governments, with construction set to begin on September 30.
The facility, expected to take up to three years to build, would supply refined petroleum products to Kenya and neighboring markets, reducing the region’s reliance on imported fuel. It would mark the Dangote Group’s largest refining investment outside Nigeria to date.
The refinery IPO has been gathering pace for months. The first reported was the $2.5 billion private placement on July 17, and the company subsequently confirmed the fundraising, noting strong investor demand for the new equity issued.
That was followed last month by the $400 million underwriting commitment, further cementing the financial architecture behind the offering.
With a listing window now measured in days rather than months, market watchers across Africa and beyond will be watching closely to see whether the Dangote Refinery IPO lives up to its billing as the continent’s most consequential capital markets event in years.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Dangote Refinery IPO set to open within 10 to 12 days stands as the defining takeaway from this story. Backed by a fortified balance sheet ($2.5 billion private placement, $400 million underwriting commitment), an ambitious plan to double capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, and a target raise of $5 billion, this offering is poised to become the largest public listing in African history.
Beyond the refinery, it signals the Dangote Group’s broader continental push: a London secondary listing for Dangote Cement in October and a new Kenyan refinery breaking ground September 30. In short, this is a pivotal moment for African capital markets, and the imminent IPO launch is the single most important fact to watch.
