NEWS
“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 Says, Reveals IPO Target as Refinery Attracts Pan-African Interest
Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that the ongoing Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has already raised the amount of capital the company initially set out to attract.
Dangote disclosed that, with the fundraising target effectively achieved, the company’s attention has now shifted towards widening ownership of the refinery and allowing millions of people across Africa to become shareholders.
The billionaire made the disclosure during a video interview with CNN International correspondent Larry Madowo, which Madowo shared on his X page on Monday.
The conversation came amid growing public interest in the refinery’s IPO, particularly among Nigerians on social media.
Madowo told Dangote that some Nigerians had become so interested in the offering that they were inspecting Dangote-branded trucks and visiting the group’s cement factories while identifying themselves as prospective investors.
Responding to the growing enthusiasm, Dangote stressed that the IPO was designed to attract investors beyond Nigeria, describing it as an opportunity to broaden participation in African capital markets.
“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 is seeking to create a much broader ownership structure rather than allowing shares in the refinery to remain concentrated among a relatively small group of investors.
He said the ambitious target was to have millions of shareholders from across the continent participate in the ownership of the business.
“We’re looking at having 10 million shareholders,” Dangote said.
The interviewer subsequently asked the billionaire whether he was confident that the refinery could achieve such a huge shareholder base.
Dangote responded with certainty, explaining that the financial objective of the IPO had already been met and that the remaining focus was essentially about expanding participation and distributing ownership more widely.
“I’m 100 per cent sure we get 10 million shareholders. I mean, 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,” he said.
The revelation places the Dangote Refinery IPO within a broader conversation about public participation in major African businesses and the role of capital markets in allowing ordinary investors to hold stakes in large-scale industrial ventures.
Dangote’s comments also indicate that the company views the IPO not merely as a conventional fundraising exercise, but as an avenue for expanding the number of people who can directly participate in the refinery’s ownership.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, located in the Lekki area of Lagos, is one of Africa’s largest petroleum refining projects and has become a major component of the Dangote Group’s industrial expansion.
With the company saying it has already secured the funds it initially sought, the proposed expansion of its shareholder base could significantly increase public interest in the offering as investors across Nigeria and other African countries seek opportunities to participate.
Dangote further suggested that if the ambitious 10-million-shareholder target is achieved, the sheer size of the investor base could create an unusual challenge when it comes to hosting the company’s annual general meeting.
He joked that the number of shareholders could eventually become so large that the company might require a stadium to accommodate them.
The remarks underscore the scale of Dangote’s stated ambition: not simply to raise capital through the refinery’s IPO, but to place ownership of one of Africa’s most prominent industrial assets in the hands of millions of investors across the continent.