Ethiopian investors seeking to buy shares in Dangote Oil Refinery Company must have a minimum net worth of 10 million birr, excluding the value of one vehicle and one primary residential property, according to the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA). The regulator has restricted the offering to qualified investors, with retail buyers excluded from the Ethiopian participation route.
Each share is priced at approximately 74.9 birr, with the offering remaining open until October 27, 2026. However, ECMA has capped participation at 100 qualified investors unless it grants prior approval for a higher number. Interested investors must also conduct all transactions through legally licensed securities trading entities, which are required to verify and document each buyer’s eligibility.
The share sale forms part of Dangote Refinery’s effort to raise approximately $1.6 billion through an initial public offering of 4.1 billion new shares. The company plans to use the proceeds to finance an expansion programme intended to double its crude oil processing capacity from about 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029 Located in Nigeria’s Lekki Free Zone, the refinery is Africa’s largest oil-processing facility. The expansion is expected to strengthen its position in the continental petroleum industry and increase its capacity to supply refined products to regional and international markets.
The offering comes as Dangote Refinery reports strong financial performance. Figures disclosed for the offering indicate that the company generated approximately $13.6 billion in revenue and recorded a profit of around $1.78 billion during the first half of 2026.
Despite the company’s scale and recent results, ECMA cautioned that its approval should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the refinery or the investment’s merits. Prospective investors remain responsible for reviewing the offering documents and assessing the risks, which include volatility in international crude oil prices, foreign exchange movements, regulatory and policy changes, competition in the petroleum sector, and possible delays in executing the expansion programme.
The Ethiopian conditions mean that, although Dangote has positioned the IPO as a pan-African opportunity, Ethiopian participation remains limited to a small group of wealthy individuals and institutional investors rather than the general public.
