Yemisi Izuora
The initial public offering (IPO) of Nigeria’s Dangote refinery, will open in the next 10 to 12 days, owner Aliko Dangote said on Thursday.
“So our dream is that we want to make sure we double the capacity of the refinery … which will take us to 1.4 million barrels per day. The IPO will open in the next 10 to 12 days,” Dangote told investors and analysts in Botswana, while visiting the Southern African country.
The refinery, is expected to seek to raise about $5 billion in what could become the continent’s largest IPO.
Dangote does not disclose refinery margins, but the refining industry has benefited from strong profits as turmoil in the Middle East boosted the demand for alternative fuel supplies.
The 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery reached full nameplate capacity in February and has already tested output at 700,000 barrels per day.
The businessman also said the secondary listing of Dangote Cement, another flagship company in his industrial empire, on the London Stock Exchange would most likely be in October, a move that could broaden its access to international investors and capital.
Dangote is also planning to build a new refinery on Kenya’s coast in partnership with East African governments.
The project, which is expected to take up to three years to complete, would supply refined petroleum products to Kenya and neighbouring countries, helping reduce East Africa’s reliance on imported fuels.
It would mark Dangote Group’s biggest refining investment outside Nigeria. “We are launching it on September 30,” he said.