Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery closes 'historic' IPO

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote's oil refinery has closed its initial public offering, attracting investor applications from 120 countries in what the company described as Africa’s largest share offering.

The offering for the Lagos-based Dangote Petroleum Refinery was initially scheduled to close on October 13 but was extended by two weeks to give more African investors an opportunity to participate.

The company did not disclose the total amount raised, although it had set a target of $1.6 billion. Dangote said earlier this month that the offering had exceeded that goal by "more than three, four times."

"This is a historic achievement for Africa. It shows what is possible when we believe in our continent, work together and invest in our shared future," Dangote said in a statement late Tuesday.

The company said investors from all 54 African countries and five other continents participated in the offering, highlighting international interest in the refinery and the opportunity to invest in a major African industrial enterprise.

"Investor applications spanning 120 countries demonstrate the extraordinary international interest in our business and the confidence that investors are placing in the future of this refinery," Dangote said.

The refinery has a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day and plans to double output to 1.4 million barrels per day, which would make it the world’s largest refinery, surpassing India’s Jamnagar complex.

In July, the refinery secured $2.5 billion in investment from private investors. Last month, the company also broke ground on a planned $16 billion refinery on Kenya’s Lamu island, with a projected capacity of 700,000 barrels per day.

Africa imports more than 70% of its refined fuel, according to an April report by the Africa Finance Corporation, highlighting the continent’s reliance on overseas supplies and the potential role of expanded domestic refining capacity in reducing that dependence.