DANGOTE Industries Limited (DIL) said it has listed its N300 billion Series 1 and 2 bonds to partly finance the Dangote Petroleum Refinery expected to be commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari before he leaves office on May 29.

A multi-billion-dollar project, the refinery is estimated to cost $19 billion to build, and is expected to create a market for about $21 billion per annum of Nigerian crude.

The bonds were primarily for part-financing the Group’s 650,000 barrels per day refinery project, the Group Managing Director of DIL, Olakunle Alake, said, according to a statement made available to The ICIR on Monday, March 30.

He noted that the bonds were issued under the Dangote Industries Funding Plc at both the Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ) and Nigeria Exchange Limited (NGX) in Lagos.

A bond is a type of security under which the issuer owes the holder a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to provide cash flow to the creditor.

The DIL operates as a holding company through its subsidiaries and offers building products such as cement and aggregates, as well as provides food and beverages, packaging.

“Today, we are delighted to have successfully completed the largest aggregate local currency bond issuance by a corporate in the Nigerian capital markets within a calendar year. The proceeds from the Series 1 and 2 bond issuances were dedicated to part-financing the Dangote Petroleum Refinery Project which is the initiative by the Group to establish an integrated petrochemical complex, and the largest single train petroleum refinery in the world,” Alake said.

He disclosed that the company recorded N187 billion series 1 bonds under the N300 billion programme, being the largest corporate bond ever issued in the Nigerian capital markets.

“The bond issuances were well received by the market and recorded participation from a wide range of investors, including domestic pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies, and high net-worth investors.

“Indeed, these are very exciting times for us as a business, and so we would continue to welcome opportunities to work with stakeholders in the domestic capital markets towards accelerating the economic activities across Africa, while maximizing stakeholder returns,” the managing director said.

Yemisi Deji-Bejide, the lead issuing house for series 1 of the bonds and chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Capital and Advisory Nigeria Limited, said, “Every time we gather at FMDQ for the listing ceremony of an issuance by the Dangote Group, it is always a record milestone.

“Early in 2022, we issued a bond for Dangote Cement, which was the largest corporate bond issuance at the time, and little did we know that a few months down the line, the Group would comfortably break that record.

“Lastly, and most importantly, investors are keen to support impactful infrastructure projects in Nigeria, as the proceeds of the bond are being used to fund the largest single train refinery in the world.”