The chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that the company’s refinery initial public offering (IPO) attracted millions of investors but fell short of its target of 10 million shareholders.
Dangote made this known at the 25th annual conference of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in Lagos, where he spoke about the response to the refinery’s public share offer.
He attributed the shortfall to the limited time available for the subscription and difficulties some prospective investors encountered while trying to access the offer.
Although the exact number of participating investors has not been officially established, Dangote described the level of interest as significant, particularly when compared with other major public offerings.
He cited GTBank’s public offer, which attracted about 200,000 shareholders, Kenya’s Safaricom, which recorded fewer than 900,000 investors, and Saudi Aramco, whose global offering attracted approximately five million participants.
Dangote said the response demonstrated growing confidence in African businesses and a willingness among individuals to invest their savings in major local enterprises rather than keep their money idle.
The refinery’s IPO, tagged The People’s IPO, offered 4.1 billion shares at N525 each, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares costing N5,250.
The offer opened on September 14 and was extended until October 27 to allow more investors to participate.
Before its launch, Dangote had announced a target of attracting 10 million retail investors as part of efforts to broaden ownership of the refinery beyond institutional and wealthy investors.
Reuters had earlier reported that the offer received approximately N6.4 trillion in subscription orders from retail and institutional investors, about three times the targeted offer size. More than two million investors had reportedly subscribed through digital platforms before the offer closed.
Dangote also revealed that applications came from 120 countries, including all 54 African nations.
He added that the experience had significantly changed his outlook on Africa’s ability to mobilise investment capital from within the continent.
