President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, had said the IPO offered drivers, cooks, traders, servants and managers an opportunity to own shares in the refinery.

“But it is not only to fund the expansion of the refinery, of course, it’s a bigger amount. What we are trying to do is to make sure the majority of all these my—our drivers, our cooks, our, you know, servants, our managers, everybody, they will have an opportunity to have a stake in this refinery,” Dangote said.

He said the transaction was not solely about raising funds for expansion, adding that the objective was to give people across the continent an opportunity to own shares in the refinery.

The IPO expected to end today, Tuesday, has now been extended by two weeks.

The firm said in a statement that it has received “very strong interest from a broad range of eligible investors across Africa and other jurisdictions” for the offer, and that it wanted more time to broaden participation.

“The extension is intended to support ongoing market-access initiatives across African jurisdictions, including the expansion of distribution channels and the implementation of depositary receipt programmes designed to facilitate efficient cross-border investor participation,” the firm wrote.

“The Issuer remains encouraged by the level of investor engagement received to date across its target markets and believes that the extension will provide more investors across Africa with an opportunity to participate in the Offer.”

The firm hopes to use the IPO proceeds to double the capacity of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to 1.4m barrels a day, build fuel storage and distribution infrastructure and support future expansion.

The firm said the extension, which it said has been approved by Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will also provide additional time for prospective investors to complete applicable account-opening, identity verification and regulatory requirements.

David Bird, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of DPRP, said: “We welcome the SEC’s approval of the extension, which will give more investors across Africa the opportunity to participate in the Offer. From the outset, our ambition has been to enable as many people as possible to participate in the IPO and share in DPRP’s future growth. The additional time will help us extend that opportunity to more investors across Africa.”

Meanwhile, the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has unveiled a share grant initiative aimed at helping up to five million tertiary students and two million vulnerable women become shareholders in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals through its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ADF, Zouera Youssoufou, disclosed that the Foundation will match qualifying share subscriptions by eligible beneficiaries.

Under the programme, students who subscribe for the minimum 10 shares worth N5,250 will receive an additional 10 shares funded by the Foundation, subject to the approved process and allocation, effectively doubling their holdings to 20 shares.

Speaking during a television interview, Youssoufou said the initiative was designed to turn the refinery’s “People’s IPO” vision into reality by giving traditionally underserved groups a direct stake in one of Africa’s largest industrial assets.

“When Aliko announced the IPO, he described it as the IPO of the people and wanted as many Nigerians as possible to participate,” she said.

According to her, students and vulnerable women were specifically selected because they have historically been underrepresented in the capital market.

ADF said it is prepared to support up to five million students enrolled in Nigerian tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Eligible applicants must be at least 18 years old and enrolled in a recognised institution. The Foundation is working with relevant educational authorities to verify beneficiaries.

Youssoufou revealed that about N25 billion has been earmarked for the student component of the scheme, while the broader programme for students and vulnerable women is valued at approximately N40 billion.

She emphasised that the intervention is a grant, not an investment, with all shares ultimately belonging to the beneficiaries.

“The shares end up with the beneficiary. Our goal is to help people who may never have had the opportunity to own shares begin building long-term wealth,” she said.