Dangote targets $50bn refinery valuation before stock listing

Aliko Dangote is targeting a $50bn valuation for his Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals ahead of a planned stock market listing later this year, with the billionaire industrialist positioning the offering as the first pan-African initial public offering of its scale.

Bloomberg reported that the refinery could sell up to a 10 per cent stake through the Nigerian Stock Exchange, implying a potential offering size of approximately $5bn.

A senior Dangote Group executive confirmed that the projected valuation aligns with the company’s current internal expectations but declined to provide additional details on the planned transaction.

The proposed listing is being structured as a cross-border public offering, with shares of the refinery to be floated on multiple African stock exchanges.

Details of the plan emerged following a meeting in Lagos between Dangote and the chief executives of several African bourses under the African Securities Exchanges Association.

Frank Mwiti, chief executive of the Nairobi Securities Exchange, who attended the meeting, said discussions focused on building a cross-border listing framework that would allow investors across the continent to participate.

“The plan is to structure a pan-African IPO,” he said, adding that the initiative would require coordination among exchanges to ease regulatory barriers and facilitate seamless cross-border trading.

A Dangote Group spokesman confirmed the meeting took place but declined to elaborate on the structure or timeline of the offering.

To drive the transaction, Dangote has appointed a consortium of financial advisers comprising Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, Vetiva Advisory Services Limited and FirstCap Limited.

FirstCap chief executive Ukandu Ukandu confirmed the appointments, saying the advisers were already working on the transaction structure.

The planned listing comes as stronger global crude oil prices and growing domestic fuel demand improve the commercial outlook for the 650,000-barrels-per-day facility, which has increasingly become a dominant force in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market since commencing operations in 2024.

Analysts say a multi-exchange listing could deepen liquidity in African capital markets and position Nigeria as a hub for cross-border investment, particularly as the country seeks a return to the FTSE Russell Frontier Markets Index.

Beyond the listing, Dangote plans to more than double the refinery’s processing capacity from 650,000 to 1.4 million barrels per day within three years, a scale that would rival global refining giants including facilities owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

To fund the expansion, the company recently secured backing from the African Export-Import Bank, which underwrote $2.5bn of a $4bn syndicated financing facility.