Dangote Refinery IPO Triggers Outages On Nigerian Investment Platforms

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s digital investment platforms came under pressure this week as retail investors rushed to subscribe to the initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, with outages reported on some platforms.

The disruptions followed the launch of the $1.6 billion IPO, which is seeking broad participation from retail investors through banks, mobile operators and fintech platforms.

Bamboo, one of Nigeria’s largest digital investment platforms, said traffic on its app surged to 10 times normal levels within 30 minutes of the IPO opening on Monday.

The company’s Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Mr Yanmo Omorogbe, said the surge overwhelmed its systems and affected some of its third-party service providers.

“I think this particular IPO is stress testing Nigeria’s financial infrastructure across the board. Us fintechs are being tested to take this massive amount of traffic,” Mr Omorogbe told Reuters.

He said the combination of the influx of new customers, pressure on third-party providers and repeated attempts by users to complete transactions ultimately caused the platform to break down.

Users of other digital investment platforms, including Cowrywise and InvestNaija, also reported difficulties accessing their accounts and executing transactions.

InvestNaija subsequently directed users to its WhatsApp channel after its platform was overwhelmed, while Bamboo and InvestNaija said their services had returned to normal by Wednesday.

The Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Group, Mr Temi Popoola, had earlier said demand for the Dangote Refinery shares was so high that some investment applications crashed following the opening of the offer.

Dangote Refinery has targeted mass retail participation in the IPO, with founder Aliko Dangote saying he expects as many as 10 million people to buy shares in the company.

The refinery has been marketed as a “people’s IPO”, with the minimum investment set at 10 shares, equivalent to about N5,250, allowing investors to participate at a lower entry point than previous major Nigerian share offerings.

The $1.6 billion offer is one of the largest share sales in Africa and comes as the Dangote refinery, which cost more than $20 billion to build, expands its operations as a major fuel supplier.

According to the company’s prospectus, the refinery recorded a net profit of $1.82 billion in the first half of 2026 on revenue of more than $13 billion.

The high level of retail interest has also prompted warnings from regulators and market participants over potential fraud targeting inexperienced investors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) urged investors to use approved channels and exercise caution before transferring funds or providing personal information.

Financial Derivatives Company Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bismarck Rewane, warned that the increased digital activity surrounding the IPO could create opportunities for fraudsters using phishing attempts, cloned investment websites and impersonation.

“Somebody can create all sorts of scams. By the time people know about it, the guys have left town,” Mr Rewane said, as per Reuters.

Business Post also reports that the IPO frenzy is driving a series of comedy about ownership across social media, with many Nigerians considering themselves fellow owners of the refinery with Mr Dangote, Africa’s richest man.