Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), Dr. Umaru Kwairanga, has stated that the impending Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Refinery will be a game changer, given the enthusiasm that it has generated among investors and the general public.
The company, Kwairanga noted, is already well known to Nigerians, having helped to resolve the shortage of refined petroleum products, one of the biggest problems in Nigeria, a leading crude oil producer in the world.
In an interview on RFI Hausa, Kwairanga said: “The announcement by my big brother and mentor that he will sell a stake in what is viewed as a national treasure to the public has been met with much cheer and anticipation and we are looking forward to the biggest public offer ever in Nigeria, if not Africa.
“We view it as a game changer given the enthusiasm that it has raised among investors and the general populace. The company is already well known to Nigerians as it has helped to solve one of the country’s biggest problems — shortage of refined petroleum products in one of the world’s leading crude oil producers.”
He explained that Nigeria is now the world’s best-performing stock market in dollar terms due to a number of factors, including the Federal Government’s macro economic reforms.
“The removal of fuel subsidies, the forex market reforms and the return to conventional monetary policy freed the economy from many of the structural inefficiencies that had held back performance.
“After an initial shock, the performance of most quoted companies has been very positive and attracted renewed attention from investors.
“Regulators in various sectors such as banking, insurance, and even the capital market have also mandated recapitalisation and such recapitalisation drives have brought in a surge of new capital and new investors and boosted liquidity and performance. Then, there’s the increasing digitalisation of the market.
“As an exchange, we have encouraged and supported our trading licence holders to adopt other management systems that allow their clients to trade from their handsets. That combined with the licensing of several digital brokers by SEC has brought in a new and younger generation of investors.
“All these varied factors: improved macro economic environment, improved company performances, greater liquidity have combined to push the Nigerian capital market to greater heights,” he said.
On sustainability, he remarked that the current performance is sustainable as the factors that gave rise to it are firmly in place while new ones that will push it further are around the corner.
For example, he said the NGX Group was looking forward to the reclassification of the Nigerian market as a frontier market in major indices, adding that: “That should bring it back into the focus of international investors.”
According to him, “The mega listing of the Dangote Refinery is imminent and that should bring several million new investors into the capital market. So we think the performance will be sustained and even surpassed.”
Kwairanga stressed that almost all sectors of the market have enjoyed significant increases over the course of the year, citing some of the top performing sectors in the first half of 2026 as banking, industrial goods and oil and gas.
On whether or not foreign investors were returning in significant numbers, he admitted that while they are making a comeback, the numbers are not what they used to be about a decade back.
“The local investor base presently dominates the market in percentage terms. We expect more foreign investors to recognise the turnaround in Nigeria’s economy, the stability in forex management, the robust performance of Nigerian economies and their shares and see the value in the Nigerian market as we continue to top the global charts in terms of performance,” he said.