Aliko Dangote’s $1.6 billion share sale in his Lagos refinery is attracting heavy investor demand as he seeks funds to double the refinery’s capacity to 1.4 billion barrels per day. Marketed as a “people’s IPO,” the offer could raise as much as $2.1 billion if oversubscribed. Dangote’s lead financial advisers are underwriting $400 million.
Private Capital, Public Stakes
The sale has drawn retail investors in numbers that disrupted some financial technology platforms. Bamboo chief executive Richmond Bassey said the platform recorded a 350% surge in new accounts in the week before the offer opened, and growth exceeded that rate after the IPO launched. “We expected a wave of retail demand in the IPO, but in reality, it’s been more like a tsunami,” Bassey told Reuters.
Dangote said construction of a 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery near Lamu, Kenya’s second deep-water port, was due to begin on Wednesday. He put the project’s cost at $16 billion and said regional governments had received an offer of a 30% stake. Kenya and Rwanda were among the governments investing; they could spread payments for their equity over four years. Rwanda had sought a 10% stake, a request still under discussion.
The Lamu refinery is expected to source crude from regional producers, including Kenya, and overseas suppliers in the Middle East and the United States. Dangote said pipelines would run from Lamu into one or two countries in the region. The refinery would also support industries such as petrochemicals.
A group of local residents has challenged the Lamu project at Kenya’s High Court, and conservationists have criticized it. Dangote said traders opposed the project because it would disrupt their businesses. “Everybody is saying that ‘no, we have a way that we used to make money without working hard.’ But right now, they will make money still, but they have to work hard,” he said.
South Africa’s foreign direct investment inflows rose to 49.8 billion rand ($3.03 billion) in the second quarter of 2026, from 20.3 billion rand in the previous quarter. The South African Reserve Bank said a local telecommunications company received debt funding from a non-resident parent company, driving the increase. It didn’t name the company because the transaction wasn’t public.
States Seek a Larger Role
Egyptian officials estimate the country’s investments across Africa at about $14 billion. They include Tanzania’s $3 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, built by a consortium led by Egyptian companies. Cairo plans to host the three-day Alamein Africa Forum on Friday, with more than 20 heads of state and government representatives expected alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.
Egyptian deputy foreign minister for African affairs Mohamed Abu Bakr Saleh said the forum would become a biennial event under an African Union mandate. It will cover infrastructure, trade, agriculture, healthcare, mining, technology and renewable energy. “Africa possesses vast resources, but they are still not being exploited to the level we would like to see,” he said.
The forum comes amid Egypt’s dispute with Ethiopia over the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, described as Africa’s largest hydroelectric project. Ethiopia says the dam is vital for economic growth, while Egypt says it could threaten Nile water supplies without a binding operating agreement. More than a decade of negotiations have failed to settle the dispute. “Our position on Egypt’s water security has not changed and will not change,” Saleh said. “It is an existential issue for Egypt.”
Barriers to Trade and Investment
Trade within Africa totalled $192 billion in 2023, about 15% of the continent’s total trade. By comparison, trade within Asia exceeded 55%, and Europe’s topped 70%. Africa attracted about $70 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025, compared with roughly $1.6 trillion invested globally, according to the UN.
At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United Bank for Africa Group Managing Director/CEO Oliver Alawuba called for fewer regulatory and currency barriers. UBA has about $30 billion in total assets and a presence in 20 African countries, but Alawuba said currency risk could make it difficult to bring capital back across markets. He gave the example of a Kenyan tea farmer selling to Ghana who must “go through a dollar currency to do that.”
Alawuba welcomed the African Continental Free Trade Area but said payment systems remained a hurdle. UBA said it had an agreement with the trade area for a $6 billion fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises. “We need SMEs to rise and we need government to support the rise,” Alawuba said.
UBA also met World Bank Group President Ajay Banga to discuss mobilising long-term capital for infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, small and medium-sized enterprises and regional trade. The bank said its presence across 20 African markets helped it identify bankable projects, connect them with financing and support implementation. In discussions with the United States Export-Import Bank, UBA considered possible support for its trade finance for businesses importing American goods and services.