Video: Why I don’t want to be called Africa’s wealthiest — Dangote
Dangote Refinery
Abdullateef Fowewe
Nigerian industrialist, Aliko Dangote, long ranked as Africa’s richest man, has used the launch of the continent’s biggest initial public offering to reject that label on Monday.
Speaking on Monday while sounding the gong at the Nigerian Exchange to open the IPO of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, Dangote said, “I don’t want anybody again to call me the richest man in Africa. I want to be called the wealthiest man in Africa so that I can create wealth for others.”
He framed the share sale as far more than a fundraising exercise.
“Today, we are not merely offering shares. We are offering an opportunity to participate in the transformational chapter of not only Nigeria’s economy, of Africa’s economy,” Dangote told the gathering.
The IPO, which opened Monday and runs until October 13, offers 4.1 billion new ordinary shares at ₦525 each.
The minimum subscription is just 10 shares (₦5,250), aimed at broadening ownership among ordinary Nigerians and other African investors. If fully subscribed, the offer is expected to raise about ₦2.15 trillion (roughly $1.6 billion) and value the refinery near $47–50 billion.
Dangote has marketed the deal as a “people’s IPO,” urging wider participation in the capital market to deepen prosperity and strengthen the economy through shared ownership.
