Femi Otedola to invest $100m in Dangote Refinery as IPO nears

With the proposed initial public offering on the Nigerian Exchange Limited drawing closer, Femi Otedola, Chairman of First HoldCo, has disclosed plans to inject $100 million into the Dangote refinery.

The billionaire made the announcement on Wednesday, following a visit he led with top executives of First HoldCo to meet Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, at the Lagos-based refinery.

Otedola’s planned investment forms part of the $2 billion private placement that the Dangote refinery is seeking from private investors ahead of its IPO, for which no date has yet been fixed.

“On a personal note, I’ve appealed to him [Aliko Dangote]. I’ve been here with him 25 times, so my compensation is that he’s going to allocate to me shares worth $100 million in the private placement,” Otedola said.

“That’s one of the reasons why I sold my stake in the Geregu plant – to come and invest my proceeds in the IPO of Dangote refinery.”

During the meeting, Aliko Dangote confirmed that the refinery is targeting a private placement of roughly $2 billion.

On October 22, 2025, Dangote stated that the refinery could sell up to a 10 percent stake in the listing – a portion Bloomberg valued at approximately $5 billion. The billionaire plans to make the IPO a cross-border listing, allowing the refinery to attract both domestic and international investors.

In an earlier statement, Dangote said the IPO is intended to democratise wealth creation and give Africans direct access to participate in the continent’s industrial transformation.

Bloomberg reported on May 12 that Dangote is aiming for a valuation of as much as $50 billion for the refinery.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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