Business
Dangote to list fertiliser, refinery businesses on Nigerian Stock Exchange
Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has announced plans to list two of his group’s most significant industrial ventures — Dangote Fertiliser and Dangote Refinery — on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), opening up ownership of the multibillion-dollar companies to public investors.
Speaking on Friday at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2025) held in Abuja, the President of Dangote Group disclosed that Dangote Fertiliser will be listed on the Nigerian capital market before the end of 2025, while the Dangote Petroleum Refinery will follow in 2026.
The move is expected to deepen the Nigerian stock market, enhance liquidity, and expand investment opportunities in the country’s real sector, particularly in agriculture and energy. The two projects are among the largest industrial developments in Africa.
Dangote, who is also the chairman of the Afreximbank Advisory Council, used the platform to criticize capital flight from Africa, stressing the need for the continent’s wealthy individuals and institutions to invest domestically.
“Africa has been held back because those who have capital—legally or even illegally earned—take it away to other continents,” he said. “We must begin to invest our resources here to drive the growth and development Africa needs.”
He drew comparisons with Asian economies, particularly China and India, where local capital retention and reinvestment have spurred decades of rapid development. Dangote called on African billionaires, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and private sector players to channel investments into critical sectors like manufacturing, refining, and infrastructure.
The Dangote Fertiliser Plant, located in Lekki, Lagos, is the largest granulated urea fertiliser plant in Africa, with a capacity of 3 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa). Commissioned in 2021, the plant already supplies fertiliser across Nigeria and exports to several countries.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, also in the Lekki Free Zone, is a 650,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) integrated refinery and petrochemical complex — the largest single-train refinery in the world. While production has started on a limited scale, the facility is expected to be fully operational later in 2025, drastically reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imported refined petroleum products.
Both ventures are part of Dangote’s long-term strategy to industrialize Nigeria, reduce import dependency, and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
The planned listings are expected to offer retail and institutional investors access to shares in two of the continent’s largest industrial operations. Analysts say the development could boost investor confidence, attract foreign portfolio investment, and solidify the Nigerian Exchange’s role as a hub for African capital formation.
Already, Dangote Cement — another flagship of the group — is listed on the NGX and remains one of the most capitalised stocks on the exchange.
“By bringing more of his industrial assets to the public market, Dangote is setting a new benchmark for African entrepreneurs to follow,” said a market analyst at Afrinvest. “This could be a game-changer for the Nigerian capital market.”
Dangote also urged African leaders to stop the export of raw minerals such as lithium, bauxite, and copper, stressing that value addition through local processing is the path to real economic transformation.
“Exporting raw materials has never led any country to prosperity. If we don’t process what we produce, we will continue exporting jobs and importing poverty,” he warned.
He called on policymakers to create pro-investment regulatory frameworks and partner with local industrialists to unlock Africa’s full economic potential.
With the anticipated listings of Dangote Fertiliser and Dangote Refinery, the Nigerian capital market may be poised for its most significant inflow of industrial equity in over a decade, potentially reshaping its dynamics and reinforcing the continent’s shift towards local investment-led development.
