Dangote Refinery IPO Raises N1.5trn in 6 Hours as Bamboo, Cowrywise Crash

• The Dangote Refinery IPO opened on the Nigerian Exchange on Monday, September 14, 2026, drawing about N1.5 trillion in subscriptions within six hours
• Bamboo and Cowrywise both reported platform outages as retail investors rushed to buy shares priced at N525 each, with a minimum buy-in of N5,250
• Aliko Dangote urged investors not to worry about naira depreciation, saying dividends would be paid in US dollars

Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of experience in business journalism, with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.

The initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE drew roughly N1.5 trillion in subscriptions within six hours of opening on the Nigerian Exchange in Lagos on Monday, September 14, 2026, in what is being described as the largest IPO in Africa.

The offer is priced at N525 per share, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares, meaning retail investors can enter for as little as N5,250.

The IPO is targeting up to 10 million retail investors, making it one of the most accessible major equity offerings Nigeria has seen.

Bamboo and Cowrywise overwhelmed by demand

The surge in demand caused serious problems for two popular fintech investment platforms.

Bamboo told its users it was seeing "much higher than expected traffic trying to get into the Dangote IPO and it's making it difficult for some users to log into the Bamboo app," adding that its team was working to restore normal access shortly.

Cowrywise issued a similar notice, saying: "We're currently seeing more traffic than usual on the Cowrywise app. Our team is already on it and working to get things back to normal."

The outages drew complaints from investors who could not place their orders. Retail investor Vallisangel Faith said the situation exposed the need for investment companies to prepare adequately for periods of unusually high demand. Ogudu Mikel said he was struggling to log into the Cowrywise app at all.

Fintech specialist May Codegidi compared the experience unfavourably with buying shares through traditional banks, saying some platforms appeared unable to cope with the volume generated by the IPO.

Dangote assures investors on dollar dividends.

Addressing the overwhelming investor interest, Aliko Dangote sought to calm concerns about the impact of naira depreciation on returns.

He said the refinery operates as a dollarised business and that shareholders would receive dividends in US dollars, a structure he said would help protect the value of investors' holdings regardless of movements in the naira exchange rate.

Dangote also said investors would have the opportunity to visit the refinery in January 2027.

Oversubscription risk

With subscriptions already hitting about N1.5 trillion within hours of the offer opening, there is a real possibility that the offer will be heavily oversubscribed, meaning investors may receive only a portion of the shares they applied for when the offer eventually closes.

The scale of demand marks a notable moment for Nigeria's capital market and its push to deepen retail participation in equity investment.

How to buy Dangote Refinery shares from September 14 with N5,250

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE IPO, allowing eligible investors to participate in the landmark share offering.

The regulator approved the sale of 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 per share.

If investors fully subscribe to the offer, the company could raise about N2.15 trillion.