Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, has confirmed plans to take the group’s fertiliser business public in 2028 as the company expands production across Africa.
Dangote disclosed the plan during an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum in New York, where he discussed the group’s plans to increase fertiliser production and attract more investors into its businesses.
“We will IPO it. It’s going to be the biggest fertiliser company on earth,” Dangote said.
When asked about the timing of the proposed listing, he added, “Yes, it will be 2028.”
Dangote Fertiliser currently operates a $2.5 billion plant in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, with annual urea production capacity of about three million tonnes.
The group plans to significantly expand its fertiliser operations, targeting annual urea production of 12 million tonnes. It is also developing potash and phosphate mines and plans to produce 2.2 million tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP).
Dangote said the expansion could enable the business to meet more than 40 percent of Africa’s fertiliser demand.
“So I think we alone can satisfy at least more than 40% of Africa’s demand,” he said.
The planned expansion is part of Dangote’s broader strategy to increase local production of essential industrial and agricultural inputs and reduce Africa’s dependence on imported fertiliser.
Dangote said the experience of African countries during the Russia-Ukraine conflict highlighted the risks associated with relying heavily on foreign suppliers for fertiliser.
“Four years ago, at the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia crisis, the African Union sent the German President Michel to go and say that we needed fertiliser. We are running out of fertiliser because they are our suppliers. And I saw that, so we made an announcement. I said in four years, Africa will not go and beg anybody for fertilizer,” he said.
He said the group’s investments were aimed at increasing Africa’s ability to process its own raw materials and create jobs locally rather than exporting raw materials and importing finished products.
“Africa is not going to ask for aid anymore. We will now go there and develop our continent,” Dangote said.
“So what we are doing right now is trying to convert most of our raw materials that we will be shipping at a very cheap price, which means when you ship raw material, you are actually shipping jobs out because you are not going to create any jobs. Then you import poverty into your continent. So we have cancelled that now.”
Dangote said the group is investing between $46 billion and $50 billion across Africa, with projects spanning fertiliser, refining, petrochemicals and other industrial sectors.
“We are doing massively, and I’m sure a lot of companies are going to join us. We have $46 to $50 billion, which we are now investing back into the continent. I’m sure a lot of people are going to follow suit,” he said.
The fertiliser IPO announcement comes as the group continues efforts to broaden ownership of its businesses. The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is currently undergoing its own public offering, with the company targeting 10 million shareholders.
Dangote said the refinery IPO was designed to increase public participation in major African businesses.
“We are looking for 10 million shareholders. So the idea that we’re doing is actually to bring democracy into capital markets in Africa, is to have Africans be able to participate in this prosperity,” he said.
He said the refinery’s public offering had attracted significant interest, with high traffic affecting some of the systems used during the early stages of the process.
“We launched the IPO on Monday, so immediately after we started, I think the whole system crashed, including the banks. Only the stock exchange was actually running live, 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, but I’m sure right now they have stabilised,” he said.
Dangote said the group is also working with financial institutions in Kenya, Botswana and South Africa to allow investors from those markets to participate in the refinery offering.
The fertiliser business is expected to become another major Dangote Group operation opened to outside investors once the planned 2028 IPO takes place.
The expansion of its production capacity to 12 million tonnes of urea annually, together with planned potash, phosphate and DAP operations, would significantly increase the company’s presence in Africa’s fertiliser market.
For Dangote, the planned listing is part of a wider effort to bring additional investors into businesses that have historically been financed and operated largely within the group.
