Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has announced plans to list his massive Nigerian oil refinery on the stock market by the end of 2026, aiming to expand its investor base and ease concerns about monopoly power.

Speaking at the African Export-Import Bank’s annual general meeting in Abuja, Dangote also revealed that the Dangote Group will proceed with the stock market listing of its urea fertilizer plant, capable of producing 2.8 million tons annually, before the end of this year.

Back in July, Dangote announced plans to list both the fertilizer and petrochemical divisions of the Dangote Refinery in the first quarter of 2025.

The decision to move forward with the listings reflects the conglomerate’s broader strategy to attract new investors and unlock greater value for shareholders. He also revealed plans for a dual listing of the refinery on both the London and Lagos stock exchanges.

The $20 billion refinery began operations in 2024 and is the largest on the African continent, with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Ranked by Bloomberg as having a higher capacity than the ten largest refineries in Europe, the refinery currently produces aviation fuel, diesel, gasoline, and naphtha.

Public listing to ease monopoly concerns

Nigeria’s downstream regulator and independent fuel marketers have clashed with Dangote, raising concerns about a potential monopoly in the local fuel market, similar to dominance seen in his other subsidiaries. But Dangote believes public listing will silence critics.

“It’s important to list the refinery so that people will not be calling us a monopoly,” he said. “They will now say we have shares, so let everybody have a part of it.”

Earlier this year, Aliko Dangote projected that his conglomerate is on track to generate $30 billion in total revenue next year, despite growing concerns among global businesses about the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

He added that the group also aims to surpass Qatar and become the world’s largest exporter of urea within the next four years. (Business Insider Africa, but headline rejigged)