Dangote Refinery Secures SEC Approval for ₦2.15 Trillion IPO at ₦525 Per Share

Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE has received approval from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to proceed with its initial public offering (IPO), setting the stage for one of the biggest share sales in the country’s capital market.

The approved offer comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at ₦525 each. If fully subscribed, the IPO could raise approximately ₦2.15 trillion for the refinery.

The SEC has also registered the refinery’s existing 120.13 billion ordinary shares, giving the company a formal share structure ahead of its planned entry into the Nigerian capital market.

The approval was communicated to Vetiva Advisory Services Limited, the lead issuing house handling the transaction, and clears a major regulatory hurdle for the long-awaited listing.

ALSO READ

• Dangote Refinery IPO Set to Open Within Days as Nigeria Awaits Major Share Sale
• Nigerian Naira Strengthens Past ₦1,330/$ to Two-Year High

SEC Approval Moves Dangote Refinery IPO Forward

The SEC approval is an important step because the refinery had previously been the subject of unauthorized marketing activity.

In June, the regulator warned investors that no application for a Dangote Refinery IPO had been filed or approved at that point and ordered market operators to stop soliciting funds or commitments for the purported offer.

That position has now changed.

The refinery has passed the regulatory stage required for the approved offer documents and can proceed with the next steps in the transaction.

For investors, this makes the current ₦525 offer price materially different from the various unofficial prices and pre-IPO claims that circulated before the SEC approval.

Dangote Refinery Will Offer 4.1 Billion Shares

The IPO will involve 4.1 billion ordinary shares at ₦525 per share.

At the approved price, the total value of the shares being offered comes to about ₦2.15 trillion if investors subscribe for the entire offer.

The calculation is straightforward: 4.1 billion shares multiplied by ₦525 gives approximately ₦2.15 trillion.

It is important, however, not to confuse the 4.1 billion shares being offered with the refinery’s entire share capital.

The SEC has separately registered 120.13 billion existing ordinary shares in the company.

This distinction matters when assessing the size of the IPO and the ownership structure that will emerge after the offer.

What Is the Dangote Refinery Worth?

At the ₦525 offer price, the refinery is valued at roughly $47 billion, based on the reported transaction structure and prevailing exchange-rate conversion.

That valuation makes the IPO one of the most closely watched capital-market transactions in Nigeria.

Makon Financials reported that the refinery has a current capacity of about 650,000 barrels per day, while Aliko Dangote plans to increase capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.

The refinery, located in the Lekki area of Lagos, was built at a reported cost of about $20 billion and has become a major part of Nigeria’s strategy to reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum products.

Dangote Plans to Expand Refinery Capacity

The IPO is also coming at a point when Dangote is looking beyond the refinery’s current production capacity.

The group plans to expand the refinery from its current estimated capacity of 650,000 barrels per day capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.

That expansion would more than double the refinery’s current capacity and further increase its importance in Nigeria’s petroleum market and the wider African refining industry.

The planned expansion is one reason the IPO is more than simply a share sale. The transaction is also a way of bringing additional capital into a refinery that the Dangote Group intends to make significantly larger.

When Will the Dangote Refinery IPO Open?

The latest reports indicate that the IPO order book is expected to open on September 14, 2026.

Makon Financials confirmed that the offering will also include a greenshoe option of up to 15%, which could allow additional shares to be sold if investor demand is strong.

The final outcome will, therefore, depend on how investors respond once the offer opens and whether the entire allocation is taken up.

Why the IPO Matters to Nigeria’s Capital Market

The Dangote Refinery IPO could become one of the largest capital-market transactions Nigeria has ever seen.

A successful ₦2.15 trillion offer would bring one of Africa’s largest industrial assets directly into the public market and give Nigerian investors an opportunity to own shares in the refinery.

It could also deepen the Nigerian exchange by adding a major energy company with significant assets and operations to the listed market.

For Dangote, the transaction provides another route to raise capital while broadening the refinery’s ownership base.

For investors, however, the size of the company alone does not determine whether ₦525 represents good value. The refinery’s profitability, debt levels, cash flow, future expansion costs, and ability to maintain high utilisation will be important factors to watch once more financial information becomes available through the approved offer documents.

Source: Security Exchange Commission Nigeria (SEC)