Yemisi Izuora
The Dangote Group will use the $2.5-billion private equity funding to expand the Lekki complex’s refining and petrochemical production capacities as part of the operator’s goal of improving energy security across Africa, Oil &Gas platform Journal reports.
The recently completed private equity funding will be used to support DPRP’s plan to expand the 650,000-b/d Lekki integrated complex’s refining capacity to 1.4 million b/d.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE (DPRP) has completed a $2.5-billion private equity placement to support the operator’s ongoing expansion of its 650,000 barrels a day integrated refining and petrochemicals complex in the Lekki Trade Zone near Lagos.
Believed to be Africa’s largest publicly disclosed primary equity private placement by value and achieving 3.7 times subscription relative to the initial offer size, the new private equity placement marks a milestone in advancing the company’s long-term funding strategy and continued development of African capital markets, DPRP said in a July 23 releases posted to its official social media accounts.
Attracting strong participation from a diverse group of international and African institutional investors, sovereign-related investment vehicles, development finance institutions, and long-standing strategic partners—including Africa Finance Corp. and India Infra Buildco, an investment vehicle facilitated by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), alongside a broad mix of institutional and individual investors—the offering and its closing “[underscores] deep and diversified market confidence in DPRP’s long-term strategy,” according to the operator.
In addition to funding DPRP’s proposed expansion of the Lekki complex, DPRP said proceeds from the private equity placement will help strengthen the company’s capital structure and provide additional financial flexibility for future growth initiatives.
Closing of the transaction comes as ”a strategic step to deepen and further [institutionalize DPRP’s] shareholder base, while raising capital to complement our internal cash flows and external funding as DPRP advances its expansion agenda,” said Aliko Dangote, DPRP’s chairman and chief executive officer of Dangote Industries Ltd.
“This [new funding and strong investor response it attracted] further demonstrates [continued confidence in DPRP’s strategy and] our profound commitment to developing domestic refining and petrochemical capacity—reducing Africa’s reliance on imported refined products and strengthening the continent’s energy security,” Dangote added.
Completion of this latest funding follows DPRP’s confirmation in October 2025 that it aims to increase the Lekki complex’s refining capacity by 750,000 b/d to 1.4 million b/d.
In addition to crude distillation capacity, the proposed project would expand associated petrochemical operations, including boosting the complex’s polypropylene production by 900,000 tonnes/year (tpy) to 2.4 million tpy, as well as enable new output of base oils and linear alkylbenzene feedstocks used in detergent manufacturing.
The company said it also plans to upgrade the complex’s fuel output to conform to Euro 6-quality standards. Additional elements of the expansion include increasing on-site power generation capacity to support full operational self-reliance for the refinery and associated petrochemical units.
On April 8, Afreximbank announced its firm support for DPRP parent Dangote Group’s broader operational expansion plan as part of the company’s Vision 2030 long-term growth strategy, which aims to lift the group’s earnings to $100 billion by 2030.
The Vision 2030 plan specifically outlines a two-phase expansion program to be executed between 2025-28 and 2028-30, respectively, according to Afreximbank.
Alongside expansion of DPRP’s Lekki complex, Dangote’s Vision 2030 plan also includes quadrupling the group’s fertilizer production to 12 million tpy from its current production capacity of 3 million tpy. If completed, the expansion would position Dangote as the largest global producer of urea fertilizer, Afreximbank said.
Beyond the group’s current portfolio, Afreximbank said Dangote has identified new investment opportunities in infrastructure—including unidentified ports and pipelines—as well as gas, mining, power, and data centers to support Africa’s digital transformation and enterprise resilience