CMA approves Dangote refinery IPO access for Kenyan investors through GDRs

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has approved a Short Form Prospectus for a global depository receipt (GDR), allowing eligible Kenyan investors to take part in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals (DPRP), the regulator said in a statement issued in Nairobi on 5 October 2026.

The prospectus was submitted by Renaissance Capital (Kenya) Limited, a licensed investment bank. The DPRP IPO opened on 14 September 2026 and closes on 13 October 2026, according to the CMA.

The CMA described a GDR as a negotiable certificate issued by a depository bank that represents shares in a foreign company. It lets investors in one country put money into companies in another without buying the underlying shares directly.

Renaissance Capital (Kenya) is working with Renaissance Capital Africa, which is licensed in Nigeria, and will put custodial arrangements in place for money received from investors, the CMA said. When the IPO closes and the allocation of DPRP shares is confirmed, Renaissance Capital (Kenya) will structure the GDRs, which are to be listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

The NSE listing depends on approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria. The CMA said it has already cleared Renaissance Capital (Kenya) to seek the listing, provided the fund raise succeeds and the shares needed to create the GDRs are allocated.

The CMA said the transaction is the first of its kind since it issued its Policy Guidance Note on Global Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Notes in Kenya.

The CMA also said the DPRP IPO relates only to Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE, based in Nigeria, and is not, at this time, an offer of shares in the Dangote East African Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals project in Lamu County.

Other licensed firms are helping clients take part in the IPO through arrangements or correspondent relationships with authorised transaction parties in Nigeria, the CMA said. It named CPF Capital & Advisory, SBG Securities/Stanbic Bank, Francis Drummond & Co Ltd, National Bank of Kenya/Access Bank, Sterling Capital, Kestrel Capital and AXYS Investment Bank.

The CMA said its approval of the Short Form Prospectus is not a recommendation to invest. It urged interested investors to read the prospectus, which Renaissance Capital (Kenya) will publish and which will be available from its partnering authorised selling agents.

The regulator encouraged investors to seek independent professional advice, saying the features of the GDRs differ from those of the usual instruments traded through the NSE.