Femi Otedola to invest $100 million in Dangote Refinery ahead of IPO
By Aboki Forex —
Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has announced plans to invest $100 million in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. The move comes just before the refinery’s planned public listing on the stock exchange.
Investment signals confidence
Otedola disclosed the investment on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. He made the announcement after leading senior executives of First HoldCo on an inspection tour of the refinery and fertiliser complex in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos.
The $100 million injection is part of the refinery’s ongoing $2 billion private placement. The placement targets strategic investors before the company launches its initial public offering (IPO).
IPO could be Africa’s biggest
Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, described the private placement as a critical phase. The refinery is moving towards becoming a publicly traded company. An official listing date has not been announced. Dangote has said up to 10 per cent of the refinery’s shares could be offered during the IPO.
Bloomberg estimates suggest the proposed stake sale could be worth around $5 billion. The refinery could be valued at as much as $50 billion ahead of the listing. The IPO is expected to rank among the largest corporate listings ever undertaken in Africa.
Strategic importance
Analysts say the refinery’s scale and Nigeria’s growing energy demands make it one of the continent’s most strategically important industrial assets. During the visit, Otedola and First HoldCo executives toured key installations including the massive jetty infrastructure built to handle crude oil and refined products.
The Lekki complex also houses a fertiliser plant and supporting logistics infrastructure. The refinery has already begun supplying petroleum products into the domestic market. It is expected to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel and ease pressure on foreign exchange demand.
With heavyweight investors moving to secure stakes ahead of the IPO, the Dangote Refinery story is evolving from a national industrial project into one of Africa’s biggest investment opportunities.