A plan to take Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals public has drawn endorsements from some of Africa’s most prominent business and political figures, who argue that widening ownership of the continent’s largest single industrial investment could reshape how wealth is created and shared across Africa.
Speaking at the 2026 ADF Africa Diaspora Leadership Programme Young Global Leaders Convening in Lagos on Thursday, the leaders said the $20 billion refinery had already proven Africa could execute projects at global scale. They said a listing would let pension funds, retail investors and the diaspora buy directly into that success, rather than leaving it concentrated among the plant’s founding backers.
Aliko Dangote, president and chief executive officer of Dangote Industries Ltd., said the offering was designed to spread the refinery’s returns well beyond its promoters. “I want drivers, cooks, the woman selling food on the streets of Ghana, Rwanda and South Africa to invest so they can share in this prosperity,” Dangote told delegates in a fireside conversation.
“We are doing the IPO to pass this prosperity to Africans.” Dangote drew a distinction between accumulating money and building enterprises that generate jobs and opportunity, a theme he returned to repeatedly. “I am wealthy, not rich. A wealthy man creates wealth, while a rich man makes money and keeps it for himself,” he said, adding that setbacks had only hardened his resolve to push the continent’s industrialisation.
“There is no amount of hurdle that will stop us. If you put a brick wall in front of me, I will make a hole and pass through.” He said he expects the refinery to eventually rank as Africa’s largest company by size and profitability, pointing to Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., Tesla Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as examples of companies whose growth accelerated after going