By Ghazali Ibrahim
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has said the ongoing Initial Public Offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has already raised the money the company was seeking, as he expressed confidence that the refinery could attract up to 10 million shareholders.
Dangote made the disclosure in a recent video interview with CNN International correspondent Larry Madowo, shared on Madowo’s X account on Monday.
Asked about the growing excitement among Nigerians who have subscribed to the refinery’s shares and now describe themselves as investors, Dangote said the interest was not limited to Nigeria.
“I think this IPO is not only for Nigerians. We’ve got a lot of interest from all over Africa, and we’re selling shares. We’re trying to bring in democracy to our stock markets,” he said.
According to Dangote, the company’s focus is now on spreading ownership of the refinery among millions of investors across Africa.
“We’re looking at having 10 million shareholders,” he said.
When Madowo asked whether he was certain about reaching the target, Dangote replied, “I’m 100 per cent sure we get 10 million shareholders.”
He added, “We’ve already raised the money that we’re looking for, so this is just to make sure we spread the wealth across the continent.”
Dangote also joked that if the shareholder base becomes that large, the company’s Annual General Meeting could eventually require a stadium to accommodate investors.
The Dangote Refinery IPO, which opened on September 14, comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at N525 per share, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares costing N5,250. The offer is scheduled to close on October 13, 2026.
If fully subscribed, the offer is expected to raise about N2.15 trillion, although Dangote’s latest comments indicate that widening ownership and allowing more Africans to participate are major objectives of the exercise.
The IPO has already generated significant retail interest, with digital investment platforms reporting sharp increases in traffic shortly after the offer opened. Reuters reported that some Nigerian investment platforms experienced outages as demand surged.
Dangote’s latest remarks therefore place the refinery’s public offering beyond a conventional fundraising exercise, with the billionaire positioning it as an attempt to distribute ownership of one of Africa’s largest industrial projects among millions of investors.
