Dangote refinery taps Botswana as a $500 million gateway for Southern African investors

GABORONE, Botswana — Dangote Petroleum Refinery plans to use Botswana’s stock exchange to offer up to $500 million of refinery-linked shares to investors in Botswana and participating Southern African markets, giving the country a central role in the refinery’s continent-wide share sale.

Access Bank Botswana will issue Botswana Depository Receipts (BDRs) linked to shares in the Nigerian refinery. The receipts are proposed for listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange, with trading expected to begin on Dec. 14, according to a report by Botswana’s state-owned Daily News, citing a bank announcement. The plan is subject to the required approvals.

The move does not mean Dangote is relocating or building a refinery in Botswana. The refinery is in Nigeria; Botswana would host a local trading route for Southern African investors to buy exposure to its shares. Each BDR is intended to represent one underlying refinery share held in custody in Nigeria. Investors would be able to trade through local brokers without opening a Nigerian brokerage account, the report said.

The regional exchanges chose a single trading venue to simplify access. “We’ve then agreed that one amongst us becomes the host trading venue to reduce any complications,” Collen Tapfumaneyi, chair of the SADC Committee of Stock Exchanges, told Bloomberg, according to Billionaires Africa. The committee represents exchanges in the Southern African Development Community.

Dangote’s main initial public offering is taking place in Nigeria. The company is offering 4.1 billion shares at 525 naira each and has extended the application deadline to Oct. 27, saying the additional time will support efforts to widen investor access across African markets.

David Bird, the refinery’s chief executive, said the extension would give more investors across Africa “the opportunity to participate in the Offer” and help the company reach its goal of wider public ownership.

The Nigerian offer is seeking about $1.6 billion, with the potential to raise more if an over-allotment option is used. Dangote has said the funds will support plans to expand the Lagos refinery, which has a stated processing capacity of 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Reuters has reported that the share sale also highlights the regulatory and market-access barriers that make cross-border investing difficult across Africa.

The Botswana route could make it easier for investors in the region to participate, but the final terms—including eligibility and subscription procedures—depend on regulatory and commercial approvals.