The initial public offering of the Dangote Refinery in Nigeria will open on Monday, in what is set to be the largest debut on any African stock exchange.
The company, owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, began operations in 2024 and is taking steps to double capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.
Dangote’s plant is currently the largest one in the world that uses a single crude distillation unit. The planned upgrade will add a second unit, to make it the outright largest refinery in the world, surpassing India’s Jamnagar Refinery owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. In addition to its dominance of fuel supply in Nigeria, Dangote has helped drive a seven-fold increase in petroleum product shipments from Nigeria since 2023, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
One prominent Nigerian economist estimates that the refinery will drive a two-fold increase in GDP to $600 billion by 2030. FirstCap, an investment bank involved in the IPO, said Europe’s ongoing shift away from Russian fuels will “reinforce medium-term demand” for the refinery’s output, and expects sustained demand from West African markets.