Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered an immediate halt to the marketing of a purported share sale by Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, stepping in to cool investor enthusiasm for what could become one of the largest initial public offerings in African history.
The warning comes as anticipation builds around a planned public listing of the over $20 billion refinery, Africa’s largest and one of the continent’s most strategically important industrial assets.
In a notice issued on Tuesday, the SEC said some registered capital market operators had been promoting the purported offer, soliciting advance subscriptions and encouraging investors to fund accounts ahead of a transaction that does not yet exist in regulatory terms.
The commission described the activity as misleading and manipulative, warning that it could distort market expectations, create information asymmetry and undermine confidence in Nigeria’s capital market.
It ordered operators to stop all promotional activities immediately, remove related materials within 24 hours and refund any money already collected from investors.
