Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, has revealed that the company is targeting nearly $2 billion through a private placement for the Dangote Refinery as preparations for its highly anticipated public listing intensify.
Private Placement Details
Dangote made the disclosure on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, while hosting Femi Otedola, Chairman of First HoldCo, and other senior executives during a tour of the refinery and fertiliser complex in the Lekki Free Trade Zone. According to Dangote, investor interest in the private placement has already exceeded expectations, with requests approaching the $2 billion target. He stated: "When we say we're going to do private placement, already, we have people who have actually requested to buy, and we have an amount over almost $2 billion." However, he explained that the company may eventually decide to offer only a portion of the amount requested to interested investors.
Strong Investor Interest Builds Ahead of Listing
The planned private placement is seen as part of the refinery's broader strategy ahead of its proposed initial public offering (IPO), expected later this year. Reports by Bloomberg earlier in May indicated that the refinery could be valued at as much as $50 billion before the IPO. Dangote had previously hinted in 2025 that the company could release up to 10% of its shares to investors during the listing process — a stake estimated to be worth around $5 billion. Although the official date for the public offering has not yet been announced, market watchers expect the refinery to enter the stock market before the end of the year.
Cross-Border Listing Planned for African Investors
During the visit, Otedola and the First HoldCo delegation toured major facilities within the industrial complex, including the fertiliser plants and the refinery's jetty — a large marine facility designed to receive heavy cargo vessels. Dangote also reiterated plans for a cross-border listing of the refinery, saying the move is intended to encourage Africans to invest directly in large-scale industrial projects across the continent. The billionaire businessman has consistently maintained that broader African participation in such projects is critical to accelerating the continent's industrial growth and economic development.
Dangote Exposes Powerful Fuel Subsidy Mafia
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Dangote claimed powerful groups benefiting from Nigeria's fuel subsidy and import system tried to stop the construction of his $20 billion refinery. He explained that traders, shippers, and other beneficiaries of the subsidy regime feared losing billions of naira in profits if the refinery succeeded. Dangote also revealed that the refinery is now reducing Nigeria's dependence on fuel imports and is expected to expand to 1.4 million barrels per day.
