Aliko Dangote has confirmed plans to list his group’s fertiliser business on the stock market in 2028, while joking about Nigerian retail investors who have been demanding a “board meeting” after buying shares in his refinery.
Dangote disclosed the planned listing during an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum on Sunday while discussing the group’s ownership structure and efforts to broaden its investor base.
The billionaire businessman said the group had traditionally operated without partners but was now seeking to bring more people into its businesses as shareholders.
Turning to the social media reaction to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery share offer, Dangote acknowledged the wave of memes from new investors portraying themselves as co-owners and executives of the refinery.
“You must have seen that they’ve been calling me now for a board meeting,” he joked.
The online trend emerged after the refinery’s initial public offering was opened to retail investors, with some new shareholders sharing humorous certificates and posts presenting themselves as members of the company’s management or board.
Dangote, however, gave a more substantive update when asked about the possibility of taking the fertiliser business public.
“Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, we will IPO it. It’s going to be the biggest fertilizer company on earth,” he said.
Asked when the listing would take place, Dangote gave 2028 as the target year.
Dangote Fertiliser currently operates a $2.5bn urea plant in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, with annual production capacity of about three million tonnes.
The group has also outlined plans to raise its fertiliser production capacity to about 12 million tonnes annually by 2028 through expansion of its Nigerian operations and a proposed plant in Ethiopia.
The planned IPO would give investors another opportunity to take stakes in a major Dangote Group business, coming as the refinery’s share offer continues to draw interest from Nigerian retail investors.
Dangote jokes over shareholder ‘board meeting’, confirms 2028 fertiliser IPO
