The billionaire industrialist attributes the shortfall to limited subscription time and difficulties accessing the offer, despite attracting millions of participants and orders worth N6.4 trillion…..
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that the initial public offering of his refinery business failed to meet its ambitious target of attracting 10 million investors, although the exercise recorded substantial participation from individuals and institutions.
Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, made the disclosure at the 25th annual conference of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in Lagos, where he described the response to the offer as remarkable.
He said the exact number of investors was yet to be established, as the company was still compiling the figures, but maintained that participation ran into millions.
According to the billionaire, the outcome was particularly encouraging when compared with some of the biggest public offerings recorded in Africa and other parts of the world.
He cited GTBank’s previous share offer, which attracted about 200,000 investors, and Kenya’s Safaricom, whose public offering recorded fewer than 900,000 participants.
Dangote also referenced Saudi Aramco’s global offering, which attracted approximately five million investors, arguing that the refinery’s IPO had generated considerable interest on an international scale.
He attributed the inability to reach the 10 million target largely to the limited period available for subscriptions and challenges that prevented some interested Nigerians from accessing the offer.
Despite this, he described the level of participation as a sign of growing confidence in African businesses and the willingness of ordinary citizens to invest their savings in major enterprises.
The refinery’s public offer, branded The People’s IPO, was designed to expand ownership of the facility beyond institutional investors and wealthy individuals by making shares accessible to ordinary Nigerians.
The offer comprised 4.1 billion shares priced at N525 each, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares valued at N5,250.
It opened on September 14 and was initially scheduled to close earlier before being extended to October 27.
Before the exercise commenced, Dangote had announced plans to attract 10 million retail investors, describing the initiative as an opportunity to give more Nigerians a stake in one of the country’s biggest industrial investments.
However, the scale of demand appeared to exceed expectations even though the investor target was not achieved.
Reuters had reported that more than two million investors subscribed through digital channels before the offer closed, while total orders from Nigerian retail and institutional investors reached approximately N6.4 trillion, nearly three times the targeted offer size.
Dangote had also disclosed that applications came from 120 countries, including all 54 African nations, highlighting the international interest generated by the exercise.
The industrialist said the response had significantly influenced his thinking about Africa’s ability to raise capital from within the continent rather than relying heavily on foreign investment.
He expressed confidence that the IPO had demonstrated a changing investment culture, with more people becoming willing to move their savings into productive ventures.
For Dangote, the outcome represents more than the performance of a single share offer, as it points to the possibility of mobilising large pools of domestic capital to finance major African businesses.
