Dangote Refinery Names 10-Member Board Ahead of Public Listing
By Aboki Forex —
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has named a 10-member Board of Directors as the $20 billion facility prepares for a public listing aimed at broadening investor ownership and strengthening governance. The names were disclosed in the company's Initial Public Offering prospectus.
The board draws from energy, manufacturing, corporate finance, investment banking and legal practice. The refinery said the board will provide strategic oversight while the executive management team runs day-to-day operations.
Dangote chairs, Bird leads management
Aliko Dangote, founder of the Dangote Group, chairs the new board. He built the conglomerate into one of Africa's largest business empires, with operations spanning cement, sugar and fertiliser production.
David Bird heads the executive management team as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. He previously led OQ8, a refinery in Oman with a processing capacity of 230,000 barrels per day, and spent 14 years at Shell. He is supported by Chief Financial Officer Bruce Tanner and Chief Operations Officer Sanjaya Bhatnagar.
Insider and independent mix
Fatima Aliko-Dangote sits as a Non-Executive Director and also serves as Group Executive Director for Commercial Operations at Dangote Industries Limited, overseeing strategic units including the refinery and fertiliser business.
Olakunle Alake, a Non-Executive Director, has spent more than three decades at the Dangote Group across finance, strategy and corporate development. Devakumar Edwin, who joined the group in 1992, serves as Group Vice President for Oil, Gas and Fertiliser.
Adedapo Segun brings experience from his role as Group Chief Financial Officer of NNPC Limited, covering corporate finance, treasury and capital raising. Aliyu Suleiman, also a Non-Executive Director, focuses on strategy, mergers and acquisitions and digital transformation at Dangote Industries Limited.
Two independent directors round out the board. Viswanathan Shankar, co-founder and CEO of Gateway Partners, previously held senior roles at Standard Chartered and Bank of America. Mutiu Sunmonu brings more than 40 years of oil and gas experience, having risen to Managing Director and Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria during his career at Shell Petroleum Development Company.
The board's legal voice comes from Abubakar B. Mahmoud, SAN, an Independent Non-Executive Director with over four decades in law and corporate governance. He has previously served on the boards of MTN Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers and the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
What the listing looks like
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE initial public offering, clearing the way for Nigerians and other eligible investors to buy into one of Africa's biggest industrial projects.
The regulator approved the offer of 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 each, a transaction that could raise roughly N2.15 trillion if fully subscribed. The order book is expected to open on September 14, 2026. Investors face a N5,250 minimum investment, though they must rely on the final SEC-approved offer documents for confirmed dates and conditions.
A board carrying refinery operators, bankers and capital markets hands matters for a company about to test the Nigerian Exchange with the largest industrial offer in years. For the naira, a fully subscribed N2.15 trillion raise would pull a significant pool of local savings into one asset, and the refinery's crude purchase and product sale flows remain central to how much foreign exchange the country retains.