Chairman of First HoldCo, Femi Otedola, has committed to invest $100 million in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery ahead of its planned public listing, revealing that he sold his stake in Geregu Power to position for the investment as investor demand for the project climbs beyond $2 billion.

The disclosure came during a visit by the board and management of First HoldCo to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery yesterday in Lagos, where the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said requests from investors seeking participation in the refinery had already approached $2 billion ahead of the proposed Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The development signals growing investor appetite for what could become one of the largest industrial listings on the continent as Dangote moves to open ownership of the refinery to wider participation.

Speaking during the visit, Otedola said his planned investment represented a personal commitment to the refinery project after years of observing its development.

“On a personal note, I’ve appealed to him; I’ve been here with him 25 times. So, my compensation is that he’s going to allocate to me shares worth $100 million in the private placement. That’s one of the reasons I sold my stake in Geregu Plant to come and invest my proceeds in the IPO of Dangote Refinery,” he said.

The announcement marks one of the biggest publicly declared personal investment commitments linked to the refinery project ahead of its market debut.

Beyond the investment, Otedola said First HoldCo had set an ambitious target to emerge among the leading banking institutions across the region within the next five years.

“The First Holdco Institution has decided, the board and the members have decided that First Holdco has to be one of the biggest, largest banks in Sub-Saharan Africa and West Africa within the next five years,” he stated.

He explained that the visit to the refinery formed part of efforts to draw lessons from Dangote’s industrial expansion strategy.

“I spoke to Aliko, asking if I could visit for a retreat and tap into his vision. He has been very insightful, very thought-provoking,” Otedola said, praising Dangote’s contribution to industrial development across the continent.

Dangote, however, confirmed that preparations were ongoing to take the refinery to the capital market by September, noting that investor requests had risen sharply even before the offer officially opens.

“Well, you heard the chairman of the bank, in his personal capacity; he has pledged to buy $100 million worth of shares in the IPO. I don’t know of the bank, but maybe even the bank too, in their own investment arm, they might,” Dangote said.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank Group, Olusegun Alebiosu, said the refinery “stands as a powerful symbol of vision and industrial ambition” that should inspire similar development across Africa.

He added that exposure to such projects should encourage African business leaders across different countries to replicate similar investments in their own economies.

“And even those people from those countries will also see and be able to speak to their own people in their own country, to also put forward something inspiring like this. So if you look across, people from different countries, I’m sure they will go back to their countries and also speak to big businessmen in their own countries to also do something similar. So it’s just about building Africa and building the continent together.”