Demand for the continent’s biggest initial public offering, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, overwhelmed some of the many Nigerian investing apps soon after the share sales started.
The IPO opened on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos, the commercial capital, Monday.
Minutes after it was officially announced, Bamboo posted on X that it was working to get its app “up and running” again. There were 40% more account openings in the past week than in all of May, which was previously the company’s best month on record, a Bamboo spokesperson said.
Cowrywise was also working to restore its service after “seeing more traffic than usual” on its site.
Pent-up demand for a stake in the refinery of Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is testing Nigeria’s fintech infrastructure.
The billionaire is opening up ownership of the company, offering shares at 40 US cents apiece, with a minimum investment of just $4. He’s courting ordinary Africans and by enlisting a wide range of platforms including fintechs, mobile-phone operators, and banks.
More than 50 investment intermediaries were listed on the IPO prospectus. The company expects to raise at least $1.6 billion from the offering, which closes on Oct. 13 and values the business at nearly $50 billion.
The refinery, which started commercial operations in February 2024, was built for $20 billion and processes 700,000 barrels of crude a day.
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