President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that the company is aiming to raise nearly $2 billion through a private placement for the Dangote Refinery as preparations for its much-anticipated public listing gather momentum.

Dangote made the disclosure on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, while hosting Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, and other senior executives during a tour of the refinery and fertiliser complex located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.

According to Dangote, investor interest in the private placement has already exceeded expectations, with requests approaching the $2 billion target.

Dangote said:

“When we say we’re going to do private placement, already, we have people who have actually requested to buy, and we have an amount over almost $2 billion.”

However, he explained that the company may eventually decide to offer only a portion of the amount requested to interested investors.

Strong investor interest builds ahead of listing

The planned private placement is seen as part of the refinery’s broader strategy ahead of its proposed initial public offering (IPO), which is expected later this year.

Reports by Bloomberg earlier in May indicated that the refinery could be valued at as much as $50 billion before the IPO.

Dangote had previously hinted in 2025 that the company could release up to 10% of its shares to investors during the listing process — a stake estimated to be worth around $5 billion.

Although the official date for the public offering has not yet been announced, market watchers expect the refinery to enter the stock market before the end of the year.

Cross-border listing planned for African investors

During the visit, Otedola and the First HoldCo delegation toured major facilities within the industrial complex, including the fertiliser plants and the refinery’s jetty — a large marine facility designed to receive heavy cargo vessels.

Dangote also reiterated plans for a cross-border listing of the refinery, saying the move is intended to encourage Africans to invest directly in large-scale industrial projects across the continent.

The billionaire businessman has consistently maintained that broader African participation in such projects is critical to accelerating the continent’s industrial growth and economic development.