The key facts

  • The Dangote Refinery IPO attracted interest three to four times above the $1.6 billion target, and the deadline was extended by several weeks
  • The minimum investment is 10 shares at $0.40 each, i.e. $4, so that low-income Africans could take part
  • Part of the proceeds will go toward doubling the capacity of the 700,000-barrel-per-day Lagos refinery — the largest in Africa and bigger than any in Europe

Demand exceeded the plan several times over

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has extended the subscription period for the IPO he himself called a This was reported by AFP. According to the outlet, the extension was made to broaden African participation, not because of a lack of demand.

Who can buy in, and on what terms

The original plan envisioned 10 million investors, and the minimum entry threshold was deliberately made affordable for low-income residents of the continent: a share cost $0.40, and the minimum package of 10 shares cost $4. Part of the proceeds will go toward doubling the capacity of the Lagos refinery, which processes 700,000 barrels per day and is already larger than any refinery in Europe. Nigerian economist Bismarck Rewane called what is happening a

Context: from selling sweets to a $100 billion goal

Dangote, who is 69, began by reselling sweets to his classmates at the age of eight; after graduating from Al-Azhar University in Egypt, he traded cement, rice and sugar, then moved into his own production, building mega-factories and expanding into at least 14 African countries. His fortune is estimated differently: Bloomberg puts it at $35.7 billion, Forbes at $51.3 billion. By 2030, he aims to make Dangote Group the first African company worth $100 billion and, in his forecast, by the same date most African countries will have become fuel self-sufficient. The estimates and plans belong to the entrepreneur himself and to the outlets mentioned.