Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote opened his refinery to public ownership Monday, seeking to raise $1.6 billion from retail investors across the continent in Africa's biggest initial public offering, or IPO.
Dangote, Africa's richest man, dubbed the IPO one "for the people" and said he wants everyone to be able to own a share. Retail investors can buy shares in the sprawling Lagos-based refinery for 5,250 naira ($4) per share.
The offer of 4.1 billion ordinary shares opened at 8 a.m. local time (7 a.m. GMT) and will close on Oct. 13. Dangote retains 87% ownership of the refinery, Africa's largest.
If fully subscribed, the IPO would raise 2.15 trillion naira, though that could rise to roughly $2.1 billion if the offer is oversubscribed and the company decides to use a greenshoe option to issue more shares.
Dangote has marketed the offer to ordinary Nigerians, who can participate by buying as few as 10 shares through fintech and other digital investment platforms.
Ibrahim Abubakar, a journalist, said he would take up roughly 2,850 shares because he believed the refinery was "too big to fail."
The refinery's scale and potential returns, especially at a time when global oil prices have risen following the U.S.-Iran war, have generated excitement among retail investors.
"I will be a fool not to partake in it and see how it goes. I am placing a lot of emphasis on his name and on the refinery being the biggest in Africa," Titi Adetoye, an Abuja-based operations manager who hopes to buy up to 1,000 shares, told The Associated Press (AP).
Production began at the $19 billion refinery in 2024 as Nigeria, one of Africa's top oil producers, continues to struggle with local refining capacity.
The Dangote refinery has transformed the energy-rich country of more than 210 million people from an importer of refined oil into an exporter.
"It is going to be a game-changing IPO for Nigeria's markets," said Mohammed Saidu, head of research and investment analysis at Lagos-based TrustBanc. Saidu said he predicted there would be millions of new investors from the IPO.
The IPO has raised questions about Dangote retaining significant ownership and the refinery's purported valuation after the offering.
At $49 billion, the valuation is more than twice what it cost to build it. The refinery's officials have denied that its valuation is inflated.
"It is not something someone can classify as people-driven if you still own 87% of the refinery and there are many ways that narrative breaks down," Joachim McEbong, a senior West Africa analyst at Control Risks, said.
Chris Chijioke, a business owner based in Lagos, said he would buy 2,000 shares as the size of the refinery and Dangote's track record as a businessman made a strong case.
He expressed concern, however, about the price of the share sale, saying that if plans to double the refinery's capacity get delayed, then the offer price would not be justified.
"I personally think it is overvalued," he told Reuters.
Nigeria has relied for many decades on foreign refining of its oil due to decrepit state-run refineries, many of which operate below capacity or have remained stagnant for years due to poor maintenance.
The Dangote refinery reached its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day earlier this year. Dangote announced plans last year to increase capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, a move its officials say will make it the world's largest refinery by surpassing India's Jamnagar refinery.
Dangote has also set out to expand into East Africa and has proposed building a refinery in Kenya by 2030.
