Uganda Capital Markets Authority Approves Dangote Refinery Share Sale for Domestic Investors
The approval allows the refinery to market its ₦2.15 trillion share offering in Uganda, although participation is limited to professional and high-net-worth investors.
Uganda’s Capital Markets Authority has approved the sale of shares in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals to eligible investors in the country, giving the Nigerian refinery access to another pool of African investors as it pushes ahead with its initial public offering.
The approval followed an application by Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited on behalf of Dangote Refinery. The offer can now be marketed and distributed in Uganda, although the approval comes with restrictions on who can participate.
The shares will be available to professional and high-net-worth investors rather than the wider Ugandan retail market. SBG Securities Uganda Limited has been authorized to market the offer to eligible investors in the country.
Dangote Refinery is offering 4.1 billion ordinary shares at ₦525 each, targeting about ₦2.15 trillion, roughly $1.6 billion. The offer is scheduled to close on October 13.
The company is raising the money as it prepares for the next stage of the refinery’s expansion. The facility currently has the capacity to process about 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day, with plans to increase this to 1.4 million barrels per day.
The Ugandan approval comes as Dangote’s share sale begins to attract interest outside Nigeria. Kenya has also approved participation by eligible investors in the offer through a global depository receipt structure.
For investors in Uganda, the approval creates a route into the Dangote Refinery offering through the country’s capital markets framework. The CMA, however, has made clear that its approval should not be viewed as a recommendation of the investment or a guarantee of returns.
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The refinery’s push into other African markets comes as it seeks to broaden investor participation in the share sale and raise the capital needed for its planned expansion.
What Nigerian Investors Should Know
For Nigerian investors, the Uganda approval does not create a new way to subscribe to the Dangote Refinery IPO. The offer is already being conducted in Nigeria, where investors can apply for a minimum of 10 shares at ₦525 per share. The significance of Uganda’s approval is that it gives eligible Ugandan investors a regulated route to participate in a Nigerian share sale.
Nigerian investors should also pay attention to what happens after the offer closes. The shares are expected to list on the Nigerian Exchange, meaning the eventual market price could differ from the ₦525 offer price once trading begins. Investors should therefore distinguish between subscribing at the offer price and buying the shares later in the secondary market.
The refinery is seeking about ₦2.15 trillion from the offer, while the company plans to use part of the proceeds to support its expansion programme. The size of the offer and the refinery’s earnings recovery may attract significant demand, but investors should still assess the company’s valuation, debt, profitability and exposure to changes in crude oil prices and refining margins before investing.
The Uganda development also highlights the growing regional interest in Nigerian capital-market opportunities. Kenya has already received regulatory approval for investors to access the offer through a global depository receipt structure, while Uganda has now approved participation subject to restrictions on how the offer can be marketed.
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