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Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is planning a London listing of his cement empire this year, in a move that would provide a much-needed boost for the UK market.
Under the plan, Dangote Cement, which has a market capitalisation of almost $13bn on the Lagos Stock Exchange, would seek a secondary listing in the UK, the Nigerian billionaire told the FT. As part of the move, about 10 per cent of the shares in the company would be sold to outside investors, he added.
“We want to do a dual listing. We’ve been thinking about it for seven to 10 years,” said Dangote, adding that his business had entered “the busiest period” of his life.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has been overhauling listing rules in recent years to try to boost the attractiveness of the market, which has struggled to attract blue-chip initial public offerings amid stiff competition from the US and Amsterdam.
“We ended up saying London is good as they have brought down the minimum listing requirements,” Dangote said.
The company — Africa’s biggest producer of building materials — has selected banks to advise on the move, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Standard Bank, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move revives a previously abandoned effort to list the business in London. While earlier attempts had failed to materialise, Dangote’s move to line up advisers illustrated more serious preparations, the people said. A final decision will depend on the market environment and investor demand.
Recent steps to make UK secondary listings easier had made it more attractive to revive plans to sell shares in London, with the listing planned for about September, Dangote said.
A secondary listing of Dangote Cement would be a boost for London’s capital markets. Hoped-for listings in 2026, including a potential €19bn flotation of software group Visma, have been delayed amid geopolitical uncertainty and a sell-off of companies deemed vulnerable to AI disruption.
Dangote Cement, which operates in 11 African countries and whose shares have gained more than 70 per cent this year, listed in Lagos in 2010. Dangote Industries, which has interests in sugar, flour, fertiliser and oil refining, is the controlling shareholder in the cement business.
The cement company has long sought to list in London, appointing independent directors to its board — including barrister Cherie Blair and former Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis — in 2018 in preparation.
But stringent requirements as well as distractions, including the construction of a $20bn oil refinery in Nigeria, now producing 650,000 barrels a day, meant the listing never went ahead.
Dangote said his cement business planned to increase its annual cement production from 60mn tonnes at present to 100mn tonnes by 2030.
In Nigeria, work had already started on a plant for 6mn tonnes, with another 6mn tonnes of capacity to follow, he said, adding that it was all for export.
Dangote is Africa’s richest person and the only African listed in the Forbes ranking of the 100 richest people in the world. In May, Bloomberg’s rich list put his wealth at $35.4bn, an increase of $5.4bn so far this year.
That was partly thanks to the performance of his Lagos refinery, in which Dangote holds the majority stake. The refinery’s profits have been boosted by higher margins and shortages of products such as jet fuel following the outbreak of the Iran war. He said he planned to sell up to a 15 per cent stake in the oil-refining company in an IPO this year in Lagos.
Dangote previously flirted with the idea of buying his favourite London football team, Arsenal. But he told the FT that he had to choose between buying the club and finishing his refinery.
“I asked myself, do I want to complete these projects or do I want to go and buy Arsenal?” he said, concluding that the football club would have to wait. “I realised that, look, I have missed the boat.”
Citigroup, JPMorgan and Standard Bank declined to comment.
