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The Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), Umaru Kwairanga, has urged East African institutional investors to provide capital to support Dangote Group’s expanding industrial footprint across the continent, including its planned refinery in Kenya.
Kwairanga made the call on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, during a high-level investor engagement for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery Initial Public Offering (IPO) at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in Kenya.
The engagement brought together Kenyan and other East African institutional investors as Dangote seeks to deepen African participation in the ownership and financing of its businesses.
NGX seeks East African capital
Kwairanga said Dangote’s existing refinery in Lagos has demonstrated the potential impact of large-scale African industrial investments and expressed confidence that the planned refinery in Kenya could have a similar impact across East Africa.
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He said the company’s strategy of raising a significant portion of its financing from African investors could also reduce dependence on expensive and unpredictable foreign financing.
- “I invite our East African investors to key into this vision and give leaders like this the capital and support to take Africa to another higher level of development. You will be making a good investment decision for yourself and for future generations of Africans.”
- “To the institutional investors joining us today, I encourage you to use this opportunity to ask the important questions, understand the opportunity in detail, and engage directly with the representatives of Dangote Industries and the Nigerian capital market.”
The NGX Group chairman said the engagement went beyond the refinery IPO, describing it as part of a broader effort to strengthen the flow of African capital into African businesses and improve connections between the continent’s capital markets.
He noted that Nigeria and Kenya both have significant institutional investor communities, creating opportunities for increased cross-border investment, market infrastructure collaboration, knowledge exchange and institutional partnerships.
Lamu refinery faces land dispute
Dangote is already in Kenya ahead of the planned groundbreaking of the group’s East Africa refinery in Lamu on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
The proposed refinery, estimated to cost between $15 billion and $17 billion, is designed to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and serve Kenya and other markets across East Africa. Construction is expected to take about three to four years, with commissioning targeted around 2030.
However, the project is facing a land dispute after the Malindi Environment and Land Court ordered that the “status quo prevailing” on a disputed parcel identified as L.R. No. 13061 in the Hindi/Manda Magogoni area of Lamu County be maintained until October 14, when the matter is scheduled for an inter partes hearing.
The dispute was brought by 133 residents who claim interests in the land based on long-standing occupation, cultivation and use.
Dangote Group subsequently said the ruling would not prevent the groundbreaking ceremony from proceeding, although some activities at the project site could be affected by the order.
- “The court has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony of the refinery at this stage,” Dangote Group said in a statement.
Dangote expands African refining footprint
The Lamu refinery is planned as a 700,000-barrel-per-day facility capable of supplying petroleum products to Kenya and other East African markets, potentially reducing the region’s reliance on imported refined fuel.
The project is expected to be completed around 2030 and forms part of Dangote Group’s wider expansion across Africa, with the group planning tens of billions of dollars in investments across the continent over the coming years, spanning refining, fertiliser and related infrastructure.
Dangote has offered Kenya and other East African governments the opportunity to acquire equity in the refinery, with recent disclosures indicating that governments in the region could collectively take up to a 30% interest in the project.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is also undertaking a major expansion of its existing Lagos facility, with plans to double processing capacity from about 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day by around 2029. The expansion is estimated to cost about $14.3 billion.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO, which opened on September 14 and is scheduled to close on October 13, comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at N525 each. The company is seeking to raise about N2.15 trillion if fully subscribed and is targeting as many as 10 million retail investors, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares, equivalent to N5,250.
