Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote plans to take his fertiliser business public in 2028, adding another major industrial asset to Nigeria’s stock market. Dangote said the company expects to lift annual urea production to about 12 million tonnes across Nigeria and Ethiopia by the time of the listing, from roughly 3 million tonnes currently.

Dangote disclosed the plan during an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, where he said the fertiliser business would be the next major group company to seek public investors after the refinery. “We will IPO it,” he said, adding that the company is targeting the position of the world’s largest fertiliser producer.

The business currently operates a fertiliser plant in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, with annual urea capacity of about 3 million tonnes. Bloomberg values the plant at $3.02 billion. Dangote’s expansion plan would quadruple production by 2028, supported by additional Nigerian capacity and a proposed plant in Ethiopia.

Fertiliser expansion accelerates

The expansion reflects Dangote’s broader push to build a vertically integrated fertiliser platform serving African markets. The group is also developing sources of key inputs such as potash and phosphate, while planning 2.2 million tonnes of diammonium phosphate production, according to remarks made during the Qatar forum.

Dangote said the group has historically built its businesses without partners but now wants to bring large numbers of investors into the ownership structure. The refinery’s public offering is the first major test of that approach, giving retail investors access to an asset previously controlled privately by the group.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE is offering 4.1 billion shares at 525 naira each in an initial public offering that could raise 2.15 trillion naira, or about $1.6 billion. The offer opened Sept. 14 and is scheduled to close Oct. 13, according to the prospectus.

Refinery opens ownership

Built near Lagos at a reported cost of about $20 billion, the refinery began operations in 2024 and now processes as much as 700,000 barrels of crude a day. Its output includes gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas and petrochemical feedstocks, including polypropylene, making it a central asset in Dangote’s industrial portfolio.

The refinery’s share sale is being marketed as a way to widen public ownership, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares. Dangote has described the transaction as the “people’s IPO,” while the proceeds are earmarked to support the refinery’s expansion and related growth plans. The offer targets retail and institutional investors.

Three Dangote companies already trade on the Nigerian Exchange: Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar Refinery and NASCON Allied Industries, the salt and seasoning maker. A future listing of the refinery and fertiliser business would bring the number of listed Dangote companies to five, broadening public access to businesses built by the group.