Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has confirmed that the group plans to take its fertiliser business public in 2028.
Dangote disclosed the timeline during an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum on Sunday while discussing the group’s ownership structure and plans to bring more investors into its businesses.
The billionaire also joked about the viral social media posts by Nigerians who recently bought shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and have been presenting themselves as newly appointed shareholders and executives.
“You must have seen that they’ve been calling me now for a board meeting,” Dangote said, referring to the online memes and jokes shared by new retail investors.
The refinery’s ongoing initial public offering has generated significant interest among Nigerian investors, with the share offer marketed as a “people’s IPO”.
Some investors who purchased the minimum 10 shares have posted humorous certificates bearing titles such as “chief investment officer” and “co-founder and partner”, while others have joked about monitoring the refinery’s performance and attending board meetings.
Beyond the refinery, Dangote confirmed that the group’s fertiliser business would also be listed on the stock market.
“Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, we will IPO it. It’s going to be the biggest fertilizer company on earth,” he said.
Asked when the listing would take place, Dangote replied: “Yes, it will be 2028.”
Dangote Fertiliser operates a $2.5bn fertiliser plant in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, with an annual production capacity of about three million tonnes of urea.
The group has also announced plans to increase its fertiliser production capacity to about 12 million tonnes annually by 2028, including an expansion of its Nigerian operations and a proposed plant in Ethiopia.
Dangote has previously said the expansion would position the fertiliser business among the world’s largest urea producers.
The 2028 timeline is the latest public indication from Dangote on plans to list the fertiliser business.
The development comes as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s IPO continues to attract retail investors seeking to own shares in the refinery.
