Dangote Industries Limited President Aliko Dangote has announced that the initial public offering of the Dangote refinery will begin within the next 10 to 12 days.

Dangote made the disclosure on Thursday while addressing investors and analysts in Botswana, Reuters reported.

The $20bn facility, which is Africa’s largest refinery, is projected to raise approximately $5bn through the IPO. If successful, the offering could become the biggest public listing ever recorded on the African continent.

“So our dream is that we want to make sure we double the capacity of the refinery… which will take us to 1.4 million barrels per day. The IPO will open in the next 10 to 12 days,” Dangote said.

Located in Lagos, the refinery reached its full designed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day in February. Since then, it has exceeded that level during testing, with production reaching 700,000 barrels per day.

Dangote Industries does not publish margin figures for the refinery. However, refiners around the world have recently reported stronger profits, partly because instability in the Middle East has encouraged buyers to seek alternative fuel supplies.

During his Botswana visit, Dangote also outlined additional plans for expanding his industrial group.

Dangote Cement is expected to secure a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, most likely in October. The move is intended to give the cement company access to a wider base of international investors.

Dangote also confirmed plans for a new refinery on Kenya’s coast. The project would be developed in partnership with East African governments and supply refined petroleum products to Kenya and neighbouring countries.

The proposed facility is expected to reduce the region’s dependence on imported fuel and would represent Dangote Group’s largest refining investment outside Nigeria. Construction of the Kenyan refinery is projected to take as long as three years.