By Azeez Quadri 
The buzz about the Dangote Refinery Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the last couple of days has been exciting. While all the official channels to buy the IPO are marketing it across platforms, millions of Nigerians await the D-day for them to invest.
Data from NGX: The IPO raised ₦1.5 trillion from the public in less than six hours on September 14, 2026.
On Monday, September 14, 2026, Africa’s wealthiest person launched the continent’s largest share offering of his oil refinery in Lagos. While the IPO is the biggest on the continent, you still need to understand how investing in an IPO and stocks works.
Here are the things you need to know about the Dangote Refinery IPO:
1) Investing in Dangote Refinery shares isn’t a get-rich venture. That is, don’t expect your money to grow by 100% overnight – no, that is not how shares work. It may take time before it starts to grow.
2) Dangote Refinery isn’t a Ponzi scheme where you are promised a 200% return on your investment in 30 days. No! The dividends will largely depend on the performance of the company in the market.
3) You may have seen people say investing in Dangote Refinery will be the best thing in their lifetime. They are not completely correct because every investment has its risks. Also, the fact that it has been doing well in the past isn’t a guarantee that it will perform well tomorrow.
4) Making money from this stock can happen in two ways: through dividend payouts (sharing profits) or capital appreciation (the stock price going up). Don’t confuse the two, as a company can have a high stock price but choose to reinvest its profits instead of paying dividends immediately.
5) Don’t take a loan to buy shares. The interest rates you will incur on a loan will be far more than the uncertain dividends you will get from investing in a company. Never take a loan to buy shares, whether it is for Dangote Refinery or another company.
6) Don’t invest your children’s school fees, your medical bills, or your rent in shares. An IPO isn’t something you invest in today and come back tomorrow to withdraw. Read the terms of the IPO before putting in your money.
7) You can buy the IPO in multiples of 10. That means you can’t buy 15 or 17. But then, starting with ₦5,250 isn’t a bad idea.
8) Only buy from stockbrokers or fintech channels that have been accredited by the Dangote Refinery Oil Company. This is the time when fake adverts will fly around on social media platforms such as Facebook, X, and Instagram.
9) Don’t be surprised if the price rises, stabilizes, or nosedives slightly depending on the circumstances after the close of the share offering on October 13, 2026. Prepare for market fluctuations because short-term price movements are normal in the stock market.
10) The Dangote Refinery IPO will not turn every shareholder into a millionaire. Your dividends will depend on the amount you invested. If you invested ₦5,250, don’t expect to get the same dividend as someone who invested ₦2 Billion.
11) You cannot buy or hold public shares in Nigeria without a Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) account number. If you use a fintech app, find out if they are creating one for you or if you need to link your existing clearing account.
12) Understand what you want to invest in before diving in. Don’t invest in an IPO because of the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).
13) If the money in your account is for your daily survival, putting it in an IPO isn’t for you. Investing in shares, as earlier said, doesn’t multiply overnight. Invest wisely.
14) Don’t put all your savings into shares. Better still, if others depend on you for survival, do not invest all you have so that you don’t plunge yourself into poverty by having to borrow just to survive the harsh economic reality in Nigeria right now.
15) If you cannot sleep because of your investment, then you are on your path to developing high blood pressure.
16) Just because you applied for a certain number of shares doesn’t mean you will get all of them. If the IPO is heavily oversubscribed, the company might scale down your order and refund your excess money weeks later.
17) If you are young, investing in Dangote Refinery doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work again. It is not a guarantee to becoming a millionaire.
18) Decide how much you want to invest. Only use money that you will not need urgently. If you are sick and the money you have can only take care of your medication, don’t invest it. Your health is more important.
19) After the IPO closes on October 13, 2026, the shares won’t start trading immediately on the NGX. There is always a waiting period for regulatory approvals and allocation before you can actually see the shares in your CSCS account and trade them.
20) How many shares can I buy from the IPO? Know the simple calculation. Most of the apps will auto-generate the total amount once you enter the number of shares you want to buy. Alternatively, you can multiply the number of shares (in multiples of 10) by the price per share (₦525), which would translate to:
- 10 shares = N5, 250
- 100 shares = N52, 500
- 200 shares = N105, 000
- 1,000 shares = N525, 000
- 2,000 shares = N1, 050, 000
- 5,000 shares = N2, 625, 000 etc
Fact sheet: The refinery is offering 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 per share. It is the largest IPO in Africa.