File photo: President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote
The President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has said the initial public offering of the Dangote refinery will open within the next 10 to 12 days.
Dangote disclosed this on Thursday while speaking to investors and analysts in Botswana, according to Reuters.
The $20bn refinery, Africa’s largest, is expected to raise about $5bn through the IPO, which could become the largest public offering on the continent.
“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 said.
The Lagos-based refinery, already Africa’s largest, hit its full designed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day in February and has since pushed output beyond that mark, touching 700,000 barrels per day in tests.
Dangote does not release margin figures for the plant, though refiners worldwide have posted stronger profits lately as Middle East instability drove buyers toward alternative fuel sources.
Beyond the refinery listing, Dangote used the Botswana trip to lay out a wider set of moves for his industrial empire. Dangote Cement is set for a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, likely in October, a step meant to open the company up to a broader pool of international investors.
He also confirmed a long-mooted expansion beyond Nigeria’s borders: a new refinery on Kenya’s coast, built with East African governments as partners, to supply refined fuel to Kenya and its neighbours and cut the region’s dependence on imports.
It would be the group’s biggest refining bet outside Nigeria yet, with construction expected to take up to three years.
