NIGERIA

Mariya Dangote, a board member of Dangote Cement Plc and daughter of billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, has explained why the company chose London over Dubai for its planned international stock market listing.

According to her, the decision was largely influenced by the speed of execution and the advantages offered by the United Kingdom’s capital market.

Dangote Cement Plc is targeting a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange as early as September 2026, a move aimed at attracting more international investors to the Nigerian cement giant.

The proposed listing would add London to the company’s existing primary listing on the Nigerian Exchange and broaden access to global institutional investors. The company has a market valuation of more than $11 billion.

By listing on a second exchange, Dangote Cement would allow investors in Europe and North America to buy and trade its shares directly in major international currencies, reducing some of the challenges associated with local currency conversion and settlement.

The company had previously considered several listing destinations in Europe and the Middle East. However, changes to U.K. capital market regulations have reportedly made London a more attractive and efficient destination for emerging-market companies seeking dual listings.

According to Bloomberg, Mariya Dangote said the company chose the U.K. exchange partly because shares could be sold more quickly there than on alternative international exchanges.

The decision reflects Dangote Industries’ desire to secure faster access to global institutional liquidity while retaining Lagos as the cement company’s primary market.

The proposed transaction could involve the sale of approximately 10 per cent of Dangote Cement’s equity to foreign institutional investors.

Dangote Cement currently operates in 11 African countries and has an installed production capacity of 55 million tonnes annually. The company is targeting production capacity of more than 80 million tonnes by 2030.

The proposed London listing is also part of a wider capital market strategy for Dangote Industries. The group is preparing its $20 billion petroleum refinery and fertiliser businesses for possible future listings on public stock exchanges.

The move is consistent with comments previously made by Aliko Dangote during an interview with the School of Hard Knocks channel.

Speaking about why wealth estimates by Forbes and other platforms may not fully reflect his fortune, Dangote explained that several of his major businesses are yet to be publicly listed.

“Most of our businesses are not listed yet… It will come out soon,” he said.

The proposed expansion of Dangote Cement into the London market could therefore represent an important step in the conglomerate’s broader plan to take more of its privately held businesses to public stock exchanges.