Online Reporter
Martin Kadzere
ZIMBABWE has joined high-level discussions across Southern Africa to create a regional framework for investors to participate in the initial public offering of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
The Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (CoSSE) is coordinating the initiative, together with the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and other relevant stakeholders.
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is seeking to raise US$1,6 billion through the initial public offering (IPO), at US$0,40 per share — a price point structured to encourage broad public participation, with a target of reaching up to 10 million individual shareholders.
From Southern African markets, the initiative aims to raise US$200 million, officials have said.
The proceeds raised from the offering will be used to fund a major expansion programme designed to double processing capacity to 1,4 million barrels per day over the next three years.
Additionally, the group aims to broaden retail equity ownership in the refinery while bolstering the business’s ability to access international capital markets for future fundraising initiatives.
The landmark listing values the 700 000-barrel-per-day facility — the world’s largest single-train crude refinery — at nearly US$50 billion.
Situated outside Lagos, the mega-refinery has already reshaped regional energy dynamics by ending Nigeria’s decades-long reliance on imported refined petroleum products and supplying diesel and jet fuel across international markets.
Under the structure currently being considered, BSE would serve as the anchor market for a Depository Receipt linked to the underlying Dangote shares, while participating CoSSE markets would provide mechanisms through which investors in their respective countries could access the instrument.
FINSEC, Zimbabwe’s alternative trading platform, confirmed its active participation in the regional engagements aimed at opening up the multi-billion-dollar investment opportunity to Zimbabwean investors.
“FINSEC is participating in these engagements in respect of the Zimbabwe market,” chief executive Mr Collen Tapfumaneyi said. “However, I should emphasise that the structure is still being finalised and remains subject to the necessary agreements and regulatory approvals, including confirmation by the issuer and the relevant market and regulatory authorities.
“It would, therefore, be premature for me to confirm the final Zimbabwe participation mechanics at this stage.”
Mr Tapfumaneyi said the detailed arrangements covering investor onboarding, subscriptions, settlement, custody, foreign currency flows and subsequent trading access are among the matters currently being worked out.
“Given the interest that the initiative has generated, we expect to be in a position to provide considerably more detail once the outstanding approvals and arrangements have been concluded.”
If approved, the proposed cross-border mechanism aims to allow Zimbabwean investors to acquire and trade the depository receipts using existing local trading infrastructure and regulated intermediaries.
“What we are seeking to achieve, if the necessary approvals are secured, is a structure that would allow Zimbabwean investors to participate through familiar local market infrastructure and regulated intermediaries, rather than requiring each investor to independently navigate a foreign market.”
The regional push comes amid significant investor interest in what represents the largest industrial project in Africa in a generation.
In Zimbabwe and across the region, local investors have been actively inquiring about how to participate in the IPO, reflecting a strong appetite for shares in one of the world’s most valuable assets.
Within hours of the offering going live, multiple retail trading applications reportedly crashed under heavy traffic from an influx of prospective investors rushing to purchase shares.
When is he coming to invest here.He even visited state house. Is there something that puts him off