— Billionaire promises priority for small investors in IPO
President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has projected that shares of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, currently being offered at ₦525 per share, could rise to as much as ₦10,000 in the future.
Dangote also assured small-scale investors seeking to participate in the refinery’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) that they would receive priority in the allocation of shares.
He made the remarks in Hausa during an interview with Abis Fulani, translated by Google Gemini, while discussing the planned IPO and its potential benefits to investors.
According to him, investors seeking to buy smaller amounts, including shares worth ₦50,000 or ₦100,000, would be prioritised ahead of large institutional investors.
“When you do something like this—what is called an IPO—all the small-scale investors are the ones who will be given priority first.
“The big institutional investors who request large allocations will not get everything they ask for. But the small retail investors who want to buy N50,000 worth, or some buying N100,000 worth, and so on, they are the ones who will be given priority allocations,” he said.
Dangote said the remaining shares would subsequently be distributed among other investors.
On the potential appreciation of the shares, the businessman said the current ₦525 offer price could increase substantially over time.
“As I was saying, this share, if you look at it, we are currently at N525. A day will come when this share will reach N10,000,” he said.
He illustrated the potential gain by saying an investment of ₦5 million could theoretically become more than ₦50 million if the share price eventually reached ₦10,000.
However, Dangote’s projection does not constitute a guarantee that the shares will reach that price. Once listed on the Nigerian Exchange, the market value of the shares will depend on demand and supply, company performance, investor sentiment and broader economic conditions.
Dangote further said shareholders would have the option of receiving dividends in either naira or dollars, describing the dollar option as a potential protection against currency depreciation.
He said the arrangement could be particularly beneficial to Nigerians with financial obligations abroad, including parents whose children study in countries such as the United Kingdom.
According to him, holding the shares would allow investors to continue with their regular businesses while earning dividends from their investment.
He recalled the significant depreciation of the naira against the dollar, saying the exchange rate had moved from around ₦400 to the dollar to as high as ₦1,800.
Dangote said the impact of exchange-rate volatility had affected families paying school fees and other expenses abroad, adding that the dollar dividend option could help reduce such exposure.
The Dangote Refinery IPO comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares at ₦525 each, with full subscription expected to raise about ₦2.15 trillion.
The minimum subscription is 10 shares, costing ₦5,250, while the offer is scheduled to run from September 14 to October 13, 2026.
After the offer closes, applications will be processed and investors will be informed of their allotments. Applying for a specific number of shares does not guarantee that an investor will receive the entire quantity requested, particularly where the offer is oversubscribed.
The shares are expected to be listed on the Nigerian Exchange Main Board after the allotment process.
The proceeds from the IPO are expected to support the refinery’s expansion programme, with the company planning to increase refining capacity from about 650,000–700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.
