Dangote says refinery IPO to open within days

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery will open its initial public offering within the next 10 to 12 days, billionaire owner Aliko Dangote said on Thursday, according to Reuters, in what is poised to become Africa’s largest IPO.

Dangote said the refinery’s expansion remained a priority, with the group aiming to more than double capacity to 1.4mn barrels a day. “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,” he told investors and analysts in Botswana during a visit to the southern African country.

The refinery, owned by Africa’s richest man, is expected to seek to raise about $5 billion.

Dangote does not disclose refinery margins, but the refining industry has benefited from stronger profits as turmoil in the Middle East has boosted demand for alternative fuel supplies.

The 650,000-barrel-a-day refinery reached full nameplate capacity in February and has already tested output at 700,000 barrels a day.

Dangote also said the secondary listing of Dangote Cement, another flagship company in his industrial empire, on the London Stock Exchange would most likely take place in October. The move could broaden the cement group’s 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.

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