Dangote targets early 2027 IPO for fertiliser unit, eyes 12m tonne capacity
Aliko Dangote says he now hopes to list Dangote Fertiliser Ltd on the stock exchange sometime next year, moving the expected IPO from 2028 forward. He announced the shift at an investors meeting at the Nairobi Securities Exchange on Tuesday, while also talking about the upcoming groundbreaking of the group’s 700,000‑barrel‑per‑day oil refinery in Lamu, Kenya.
The fertiliser business is ramping up production: six new lines are due between late 2028 and early 2029, which will lift annual urea capacity from the current 3 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes. The unit already produces about 2.2 million tonnes of diammonium phosphate each year and is developing potash and phosphate mines. Dangote described the planned listing as an "IPO of the people," likening it to the recent Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO in Lagos that opened to public subscription earlier this month.
Expansion is also taking shape abroad. In August 2025 Dangote signed a $2.5 billion deal with the Ethiopian government to build a fertiliser plant in the country’s eastern Somali region, where he will hold a 60 % stake. The push comes as disruptions from the Russia‑Ukraine war and Africa’s heavy reliance on imported fertiliser boost demand for locally made inputs.
With the IPO tentatively set for sometime in 2027 and the fertiliser output set to rise sharply, will you look out for the subscription details when they are released, or consider how greater domestic supply might affect the price of fertilizer you buy for farming or gardening?