The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Dangote Refinery

  • Dangote: We’re Ready For Any Court Battle Over Lamu Refinery

    Dangote: We’re Ready For Any Court Battle Over Lamu Refinery

    Precious Nwonu, Enugu

    President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has said he is prepared to defend his investments in court as his group moves ahead with plans to build a 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu, Kenya.

    Dangote made the remarks during a fireside chat at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, where he discussed the refinery project, the group’s expansion across Africa and plans to broaden public ownership of some of its businesses.

    His comments came after the Malindi Environment and Land Court ordered parties involved in a land dispute to maintain the existing status quo on the site until a hearing scheduled for October 14.

    The case was filed by 133 residents of Chandavai in Lamu County, who claim the land earmarked for the refinery forms part of their ancestral territory and has been occupied and cultivated by their families for generations.

    Dangote Group said the court order had not stopped the planned groundbreaking ceremony but could restrict activities at the site pending the hearing.

    Dangote, however, expressed confidence that the legal dispute would not derail the project, saying his businesses had faced similar challenges in other African countries.

    He recalled a case in Senegal where one of the group’s factories was shut for a year before the company secured a Supreme Court judgment.

    “Anyone who wants to cause trouble, we are ready for them,” Dangote said, adding that the latest legal challenge was relatively minor compared with previous experiences.

    The Lamu refinery is projected to cost between $15bn and $16bn and is expected to be completed by 2030. Dangote said the project had already moved beyond the planning stage, with construction equipment deployed to the site.

    He described Kenya as an important part of the group’s African expansion strategy and said the company regarded countries across the continent as its home.

    The refinery is expected to create substantial employment opportunities, with Dangote estimating that more than 60,000 people could be engaged during construction.

    He added that the project would also stimulate the growth of small and medium-sized businesses and attract other industries to the area.

    Dangote Eyes Nairobi Listing

    Dangote also disclosed plans to list the Lamu refinery on the Nairobi Securities Exchange rather than the Nigerian Exchange.

    He said the move would support greater integration of African capital markets and allow investors in Kenya and other African countries to participate directly in the project.

    According to him, the proposed structure reflects the group’s broader objective of increasing African participation in the ownership of its businesses.

    Dangote said the group initially planned to raise $2.5bn through a private placement and an initial public offering.

    The private placement was initially targeted at $1bn, while another $1.5bn was planned through the IPO. He said the private placement eventually attracted interest worth $3.7bn.

    The group subsequently created another $1.6bn offering as part of efforts to expand public ownership.

    Dangote said the company was prepared to increase the amount of shares available to investors if demand remained strong.

    He said the group could eventually reduce its ownership of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to between 20 and 25 per cent if that would allow more Africans to become shareholders.

    “We don’t mind, even if Dangote will end up having twenty or twenty-five per cent, we have nothing to hide,” he said.

    Dangote said increased public ownership would also give shareholders greater influence over the company’s management through annual general meetings.

    He explained that shareholders would have the power to vote on the leadership if they became dissatisfied with the company’s performance.

    The billionaire said the group remained committed to corporate governance and protecting minority shareholders as more of its businesses are opened to public investment.

  • Dangote: Lamu Refinery To Generate 1,000MW, Bigger Than Nigerian Plant

    Dangote: Lamu Refinery To Generate 1,000MW, Bigger Than Nigerian Plant

    Precious Nwonu, Enugu

    The planned Dangote refinery in Lamu, Kenya, will feature a power-generation plant capable of producing about 1,000 megawatts of electricity, twice the capacity of the power plant supporting the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Nigeria.

    President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, disclosed this during Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, ahead of the planned groundbreaking of the Lamu project.

    Dangote said about 500MW of the electricity generated by the Kenyan facility could be made available to the Kenyan government, providing an additional source of power for the country.

    He also revealed that the Lamu refinery would be equipped with heavier processing machinery than some of the equipment installed at the Lagos refinery and would include a coker, a processing unit not currently installed at the Nigerian plant.

    Dangote said the scale of the Kenyan project would exceed what Ruto saw during his tour of the Lagos facility.

    “Here I will give you a sense of an idea of what we’re going to have in Kenya, just that Kenya will be a little bit bigger than what you are going to see, Your Excellency, today,” he said.

    The Lamu refinery is planned to have a crude-processing capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, making it one of the largest planned refining projects in Africa. The project is also expected to form part of a wider industrial complex involving petrochemical and other related activities.

    ### Ruto Confirms September 30 Groundbreaking

    Ruto confirmed that the groundbreaking ceremony for the refinery would take place on September 30, 2026, saying his administration had already secured the land required for the project.

    The Kenyan President said the government was also working to put other necessary project enablers in place and remove administrative bottlenecks that could delay construction and subsequent operations.

    The planned refinery is being developed on land within the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor. Kenya has described the project as an important part of efforts to expand its energy and industrial capacity.

    Preparations for the groundbreaking have intensified, with heavy construction machinery already arriving at Lamu Port ahead of the ceremony.

    The refinery is expected to process crude from Kenya and other sources in the region and supply refined petroleum products to markets in East and Central Africa.

    Ruto said the project would also create opportunities in engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, business and other sectors, while supporting the development of related industries around the refinery.

    The Lamu project is expected to take several years to complete and, if delivered at its planned capacity, would significantly expand refining capacity in East Africa.

  • Dangote May Seek SEC Nod for Extra Shares as IPO Demand Surges

    Dangote May Seek SEC Nod for Extra Shares as IPO Demand Surges

    Precious Nwonu, Enugu

    Nigeria’s capital market witnessed an extraordinary rush of retail investors on Monday as thousands of Nigerians scrambled to buy shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals initial public offering.

    The N2.1525tn offer generated intense demand within minutes of opening, with investment platforms and banks racing to process applications from investors seeking a stake in one of Africa’s biggest industrial projects.

    The scale of the demand has raised the possibility that Dangote Refinery could seek approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to accommodate subscriptions beyond the limit permitted under existing market rules.

    Under the rules, an issuer may absorb up to 25 per cent above the original offer size. Any additional absorption beyond that threshold would require the approval of the SEC.

    A deleted post by the Nigerian Exchange Group had indicated that N1.48tn had been pooled through 402,634 transactions about an hour after the offer opened. However, the figure could not be independently confirmed after the post was removed.

    There were also reports that subscriptions reached about N1.5tn within six hours of the opening. The figure, however, had not been independently confirmed by the NGX or the issuing houses.

    What was confirmed was that subscriptions had crossed N10bn only minutes after the offer opened, underlining the strong appetite among investors.

    NGX Group Chairman, Umaru Kwairanga, said the response could result in an exceptionally large shareholder base for the refinery.

    “We would eventually have a company of the highest number of shareholders in the world and we would be looking for a stadium for our yearly general meeting,” he said.

    Chairman of Coronation Group, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, also described the early response as extraordinary, saying billions of naira had been subscribed by thousands of investors within minutes or less than an hour of the offer opening.

    Fintech platforms struggle

    The huge demand exposed the capacity challenges facing digital investment platforms as investors attempted to subscribe through their smartphones.

    Bamboo, Cowrywise and Afrinvestor experienced severe traffic, with users reporting failed logins, expired sessions and difficulties completing transactions.

    Bamboo acknowledged that it was experiencing much higher-than-expected traffic from investors trying to access the Dangote offer, making it difficult for some users to log into the platform.

    Cowrywise also reported unusually high traffic and said its team was working to restore normal access. The platform later disclosed that the disruption lasted about an hour before its services were fully restored.

    Afrinvestor equally experienced access difficulties, with some users reporting problems completing their transactions.

    The disruptions generated complaints on social media, with some investors questioning whether the platforms had adequately prepared for the unprecedented demand after promoting the IPO to their customers for weeks.

    The experience nevertheless highlighted the growing role of fintech platforms in expanding retail participation in Nigeria’s capital market.

    NGX data had shown that Bamboo accounted for 22 per cent of market trading volume in the first seven months of the year, reflecting the increasing importance of digital platforms to retail investment.

    Traditional banking channels also recorded strong demand as investors looked for alternatives to the affected fintech platforms.

    Zenith Bank made the offer available through its website, mobile application, internet banking, USSD, corporate banking channels and branches nationwide.

    FirstBank activated FirstMobile, FirstOnline, LIT App, PayByLink, FirstDirect, FirstMonie agents and its branches, while Fidelity Bank provided access through its mobile application and dedicated virtual accounts for non-customers.

    Moniepoint also made the offer available to its customers through its banking application.

    Low entry point attracts investors

    The attraction of the offer was boosted by its relatively low entry threshold.

    At N525 per share, investors can purchase the minimum 10 shares for N5,250, making the offer accessible to a broad range of Nigerians.

    The company is targeting as many as 10 million investors, potentially creating one of the largest shareholder bases associated with a Nigerian industrial company.

    The offer comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 each and would raise N2.1525tn if fully subscribed.

    The public offer represents about 3.3 per cent of the refinery’s enlarged share capital.

    The total issued shares of the refinery stand at 120.13 billion. Dangote and his companies hold 80.74 per cent, while Greenview International Corporation owns 6.5 per cent and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited holds 6.8 per cent.

    Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Vetiva Capital Management, the lead issuing house and lead adviser, Chuka Eseka, said the transaction was deliberately structured to allow retail investors to participate through digital channels.

    According to him, investors could subscribe through bank applications, fintech platforms and Point of Sale terminals, allowing the offer to reach Nigerians across the country.

    Previous private placement

    The surge in demand mirrors the experience of Dangote Refinery’s earlier private placement.

    The company had initially sought to raise $1bn from private investors but received applications worth $3.7bn.

    Dangote said the company eventually accepted $2.5bn and refunded $1.2bn because it could not accommodate the entire demand.

    The experience, he said, demonstrated the appetite for ownership of the refinery and influenced the decision to open the investment to the wider public.

    Chief Executive Officer of High Cap Securities, David Adonri, expressed doubts about whether Dangote would be willing to release substantially more equity, but maintained that the refinery remained an attractive asset for investors.

    Dangote targets $350bn valuation

    Amid the IPO frenzy, President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, disclosed plans to transform the group into a company with a market capitalisation of at least $350bn by 2030.

    Speaking at the Facts-Behind-the-Offer Presentation and Market-Opening Gong Ceremony in Lagos, Dangote said the Nigerian Exchange would serve as the group’s base before its businesses expand into international markets.

    He said the group planned to list all the companies it operates on the NGX, adding that the $350bn valuation target was based on a price-to-earnings ratio of 10 times.

    Dangote said the refinery IPO was not primarily designed to raise money, arguing that the group had sufficient capital for its immediate expansion plans.

    Instead, he said, the offer was intended to broaden ownership and enable Nigerians, Africans and international investors to participate in the wealth created by the business.

    “Africa must own this share,” Dangote said.

    He added, “I do not want to be called the richest man in Africa. I want to be called the wealthiest man in Africa so that I can create wealth for others.”

    Dangote disclosed that the group had about $46bn worth of investments in its pipeline through 2030 across refining, cement and fertiliser.

    The refinery, which is currently operating at about 700,000 barrels per day, is being expanded to 1.4 million barrels per day.

    The group also plans to establish another 700,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Kenya, which would take its potential total refining capacity to 2.1 million barrels per day.

    Polypropylene production is expected to rise to 2.5 million tonnes, while the group is considering investments outside Africa, including the United States, within the next three to four years.

    African ownership

    Kwairanga said the transaction represented an important test of the ability of Nigeria’s capital market to connect African savings with African businesses.

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, described the IPO as a historic moment for Nigeria and Africa, saying it demonstrated the ability of African businesses to attract capital on a global scale.

    Chairman of the Botswana Stock Exchange, Neo Mooki, also praised the transaction and the refinery project, describing it as evidence that Africans could build and own globally significant assets.

    “I always say that Africa is not poor,” Mooki said.

    The IPO is structured as an offer for subscription, meaning new shares are being issued by Dangote Refinery and the proceeds will accrue to the company.

    The funds will form part of the financing for the refinery’s planned expansion, estimated at $14.3bn.

    The offer closes on October 13, 2026, while the final subscription figure will only be known after applications have been collated and reconciled by the registrars and issuing houses.