Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote, is targeting a $50 billion valuation for the planned stock market listing of his Lagos refinery, with the company expecting to sell up to a 10 percent stake and potentially raise approximately $5 billion in what would rank as one of the largest capital market transactions in African history.
People familiar with the matter disclosed the valuation figures to Bloomberg, with a senior Dangote Group executive confirming the target while declining to elaborate on timing or structure. A subscription window is expected to open by August 2026, with the prospectus already submitted for regulatory review.
The planned listing comes as rising global crude oil prices and stronger domestic fuel consumption improve the refinery’s commercial outlook. The facility, located in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, processes 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it the world’s largest single-train refinery and Africa’s biggest refining complex. Since reaching full capacity in February 2026, it has supplied over 90 percent of Nigeria’s petrol demand and exported 456,000 tons of refined products to five African countries.
The IPO carries an unprecedented dividend structure allowing investors to purchase shares in Nigerian naira while receiving returns in US dollars, backed by an estimated $6.4 billion in annual petrochemical export revenues. Jet fuel exports alone surged 770 percent between 2024 and 2026, with Europe receiving approximately 70,000 barrels per day to offset supply disruptions linked to Middle East tensions.
At $5 billion, the offering would be roughly five to six times the size of the MTN Nigeria listing in 2019, which had been the largest on the Nigerian Exchange. Earlier valuations placed the refinery’s worth at between $20 and $25 billion, a figure that has since nearly doubled on the strength of operational performance and rising global output demand.
Stanbic IBTC Capital will lead international book-building, Vetiva Capital Management will handle retail investor distribution within Nigeria, and FirstCap will focus on placements with Nigerian institutional investors including pension funds.
