West Africa: Nigeria's Dangote Refinery Secures $1b Backing Ahead of IPO

What the report says

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has lined up a $1 billion underwriting programme as it prepares for a planned listing on Nigeria’s stock market, according to Daba Finance via AllAfrica. The package combines a $600 million funded private placement with a $400 million underwriting commitment intended to back the public offer once it begins.

The report says Marob Strategies and Consulting DIFC and Lilium Capital Group structured the financing and are serving as co-financial advisers. The $600 million tranche was funded through Pan-African Refinery Investment SPV, a Lilium subsidiary, with participation being offered to sovereign wealth funds, governments, institutions and other investors across Africa and the Caribbean.

The new financing comes as the refinery moves toward an October IPO in Nigeria. The company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an offering that could be worth as much as $5 billion, though the final size has not been decided. The latest support follows a $2.5 billion private placement announced in July, which the report said was heavily subscribed and valued the refinery at about $40 billion.

Based near Lagos and started in 2024 after roughly $20 billion in construction costs, the refinery currently processes about 700,000 barrels a day. The company says proceeds from the wider fundraising effort are expected to help expand capacity to 1.4 million barrels a day over the next three years. More broadly, the planned listing could test investor appetite for one of Africa’s largest industrial assets and deepen local ownership through the Nigerian market.