14, September 2026
Dangote refinery launches continent’s biggest IPO 0
The Lagos-based refinery, which began operations in 2024, has a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, exceeding domestic demand in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
It began exporting its fuel abroad a few months ago and has become the largest supplier of jet fuel to Europe, the company says.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery aims to raise funds to double its capacity to 1.4 million barrels a day by 2028, which would make it the world’s largest refinery, surpassing Jamnagar in India.
Listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange, the IPO is targeting up to 10 million shareholders across Africa.
Describing it as an “historic day”, Dangote said that the IPO was “not simply about listing a company. It is about listing a new possibility for Nigeria, and for Africa”.
Investors can buy as few as 10 shares at 525 naira each, potentially raising 2.15 trillion naira ($1.6 billion) in a move Dangote hopes will give ordinary people a chance for a stake in a long-term asset.
He has said the offering, which closes October 13, will be the biggest IPO in African history and has encouraged participation by small investors, including people on lower incomes, such as domestic workers and drivers.
“We believe that an asset of this magnitude should not create value for only very few people, it should create value for millions of people,” said Dangote.
Dangote draws parallels with US giant Amazon and Microsoft whose early shareholders saw the value of their investments grow dramatically.
Monday’s opening saw a surge in interest with several investment platforms such as Bamboo reporting on X that it was experiencing “a much higher than expected traffic trying to get into the Dangote IPO”.
Another investment site, Cowrywise, said it was “seeing more traffic than usual” on its app during the first few hours of the offer going live.
In July, the mega-refinery secured $2.5 billion in investment from private investors.
Located outside Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos, the refinery has become a major part of Dangote’s business empire, which spans cement and sugar, to fertiliser production.
Africa currently imports more than 70 percent of its refined fuel, according to an Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) report in April.
Source: AFP
5, October 2026
Nigeria: Tinubu confirms 32 dead after military plane crash 0
It is one the worst air disasters in recent years in Africa’s most populous country.
The passenger aircraft was on a “routine mission” from Benin City in southern Nigeria to the economic hub of Lagos when it went down at Igbokoda in Ondo state shortly after 9:00am (0800 GMT), the president and the airforce said.
“The president extends his deepest condolences to the family of the 25 passengers and seven crew members involved,” Tinubu’s office said in a statement.
“This is a painful moment for our armed forces and for the entire nation,” he said. He did not give the identities of the victims;
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said earlier on X that the plane had crashed near a naval base.
Keyamo and Tinubu described it as an ATR-42 — a twin-engine turboprop that the manufacturers say can carry between 30 and 50 passengers
A video circulating on social media showed a small crowd gathered near a river while rescuers searched the area by boat.
The president said he had “directed the Nigerian Air Force to immediately commence a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash to prevent future occurrences”.
Noise like thunder
Dayo Akinte, 39, a firewood hawker who lives about a kilometre (mile) from where the accident occurred, described to AFP hearing a sound she thought was “thunder” at the time she believed the plane went down.
Since the crash, “three aircraft have also been flying over the scene”, she said by phone.
She said someone who went fishing in the swamp alerted the nearby naval base and people in the town about the crash.
Airforce spokesman Ehimen Ejodame earlier said “search and rescue operations” were ongoing “in coordination with relevant authorities and emergency response agencies”.
Police also confirmed the accident but provided no details.
Igbokoda is located in Ilaje, an oil-producing region in southern Nigeria.
In May 2021, Nigeria’s top-ranking army commander, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 other officers were killed when their plane crashed in bad weather while trying to land at northern Kaduna state airport.
Seven people died when a military plane crashed into a house in northern Nigeria killing everyone on board in August 2015.
Earlier that same month, a helicopter crashed into a lagoon in Lagos, killing six, including the American pilot.
Source: AFP