Dangote Extends Refinery IPO by Two Weeks

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s foremost industrialist, has extended the deadline for the initial public offering of his Nigerian oil refinery. The IPO was set to close Tuesday but will now run through October 27.

The 700,000-barrel-per-day Lagos facility aimed to raise US$1.6 billion to double capacity. Dangote said interest could bring in three to four times the target. He extended the offer to let ordinary Africans buy a stake.

“We want a lot of our African brothers and sisters to participate,” Dangote told journalists Monday. “It is not about the amount; it is about the number of people.”

If the expansion proceeds, the refinery would become the world’s largest, surpassing India’s Jamnagar. Dangote has also broken ground on a new facility on Kenya’s Lamu Island, promising tens of thousands of jobs.