‘Immediately After We Launched the IPO, the System, Including the Banks, Crashed’ - Dangote

 

Aliko Dangote has disclosed that heavy investor traffic following the launch of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s initial public offering (IPO) caused the system, including some banks, to crash.

Dangote made the disclosure during an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua while discussing the performance of the refinery’s public share offering.

“Immediately after we launched the IPO, I think the whole system crashed, including the banks. Only the stock exchange was actually running alive,” Dangote said.

According to him, the disruption occurred shortly after the IPO opened on Monday as large numbers of people attempted to participate in the offer.

Dangote said the system experienced another crash about three days later, which he attributed to the volume of traffic generated by investors.

“But then we did it again. I think three days later it crashed again because of the number of traffic going in there to participate,” he said.

He added that the systems had stabilised and said efforts were underway to make it possible for investors from other African countries, including Kenya, Botswana and South Africa, to participate through banks.

Dangote said the company was targeting as many as 10 million shareholders as it seeks to broaden participation in the refinery’s ownership.

The billionaire described the offer as a “People’s IPO” and said its broader objective was to increase participation in African capital markets.

“The IPO that we’re doing is actually to bring in democracy into capital markets in Africa. It’s to have Africans to be able to participate in this prosperity,” he said.

The Dangote Refinery IPO opened on September 14, 2026, with 4.1 billion shares offered at ₦525 per share. The offer is scheduled to close on October 13, 2026.

The interview comes amid efforts by the company to attract individual investors across Nigeria and other African countries to participate in the public offering.