The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria, SEC, has approved the initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, paving the way for the sale of 4.1 billion shares at ₦525 each.

Dangote Group disclosed the approval on Friday, bringing the refinery closer to what is expected to be one of Africa’s largest equity offerings. At the offering price, the shares are worth around ₦2.15 trillion if fully subscribed.

The IPO is expected to raise around $1.5 billion, according to sources close to the transaction cited by Reuters. The offering is expected to open on September 14 and could include a 15% greenshoe option, allowing the refiner to sell additional shares if demand is strong.

Proceeds from the share sale are expected to help fund the expansion of the Dangote refinery, with the company aiming to increase processing capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day. Built at a cost of about $20 billion near Lagos, the refinery reached its full nameplate capacity earlier this year and has also tested production above that level.

The private placement in July had already raised about $2.5 billion from investors, adding to the capital raised for the refinery expansion. Dangote also completed a $1 billion underwriting program in August ahead of the planned IPO.

The SEC’s approval marks a significant leap from June, when the regulator ordered a halt to unauthorized marketing of purported Dangote refinery shares and said no IPO application had been filed or approved at that time.

For Nigeria’s capital market, the offering represents an important test of investor appetite for a large-scale industrial asset. A successful transaction would give retail and institutional investors direct exposure to the refinery, while providing Dangote with new equity to fund its next phase of expansion.