Aliko Dangote has announced plans to support about two million vulnerable women across Nigeria in acquiring shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited through the company’s ongoing Initial Public Offering.
Dangote disclosed the initiative in New York during the 81st United Nations General Assembly while responding to a question on how public-private partnerships could help women in conflict-affected communities build sustainable financial futures.
The businessman said the Aliko Dangote Foundation would partner with state governments to enable widows, victims of conflict and other vulnerable women to participate in the refinery’s share offering.
According to him, the initiative will go beyond helping beneficiaries purchase shares, as the foundation also plans to donate additional shares to participating women for them to keep as long-term savings.
“We are partnering with state governments to ensure that widows and other vulnerable women are able to buy shares in the refinery,” Dangote said.
He added that women who participate in the programme would receive additional support through donated shares that could become part of their long-term financial assets.
“We are looking at reaching about two million women through this initiative,” he said.
The proposed programme is linked to the Dangote Refinery’s “People’s IPO”, which is designed to broaden Nigerian participation in ownership of the major industrial project through the capital market.
The initiative is expected to particularly focus on women who may have limited access to investment opportunities because of economic hardship, conflict-related displacement or loss of family income.
State governments are expected to play a role in identifying and facilitating the participation of eligible women under the partnership with the foundation.
The proposed support could give beneficiaries direct exposure to equity ownership in one of Nigeria’s major private-sector industrial projects while also providing additional shares as a form of longer-term asset accumulation.
The development comes as the Dangote Refinery IPO remains open to eligible investors, with the public offer involving 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 per share.
The official IPO platform states that the minimum subscription is 10 shares, costing N5,250, while the offer opened on September 14 and is scheduled to close on October 13, 2026.
The refinery’s official public information platform also cautions prospective investors that shares carry investment risks and that investors may lose money because share values can rise or fall.
The refinery has described the public offer as an opportunity for Nigerians and other eligible investors to become shareholders in the company as it seeks to broaden ownership of the strategic energy asset.
Dangote has previously said the IPO is intended not only to raise capital but also to create wider ownership of the refinery among Africans.
The refinery currently has a stated capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day, while the company has announced plans to expand capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day in the coming years.
Proceeds from the IPO are expected to support the company’s expansion plans, according to statements from Dangote Industries.
For the women targeted by the foundation’s proposed initiative, the planned share ownership represents a shift from conventional financial support towards an asset-based approach in which beneficiaries can hold equity rather than receive only short-term assistance.
The programme also places state governments at the centre of a proposed partnership aimed at connecting vulnerable women with a formal investment opportunity in Nigeria’s capital market.
If implemented as announced, the initiative would make the Dangote Refinery IPO part of a broader women-focused financial inclusion effort involving government structures and a private philanthropic foundation.