Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s has opened its Initial Public Offering (IPO) with 4.1 billion shares offered to investors at Naira 525 (which is about Ksh51.29) each, targeting Naira 2.15 trillion ($1.6 billion or Ksh207.1 billion) and an indicative listing valuation of about Naira 65.2 trillion ($49 billion).

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote on Monday said the IPO is targeting the general public in latest bid to raise as much as $2.1 billion for the firm’s expansion.

Dangote, touted Africa’s richest man by far, has marketed the offer of a roughly 3.3% stake as a “people’s IPO,” saying it is about giving ordinary Nigerians the opportunity to participate in the success of the plant. The offer runs through October 13, with the deal highly likely to be oversubscribed.due to high investor demand.

Dangote refinery has benefited from increased demand for its products as a result of supply disruptions linked to the Iran war that helped it to sell jet fuel to western European countries. The company said on Monday, September 14, that the thinking behind the share sale was to “democratise wealth creation”.

However, retail investors will be paying a higher price than institutional investors who bought into a July private placement that raised $2.5 billion for a 6% stake. That private placement valued the company at $40 billion, whereas the IPO moves the valuation closer to $49 billion, according to the company prospectus.

Reuters wire service cited the refinery’s CEO David Bird saying the private placement’s discount was due to certain conditions, including a lockup period, institutional investors agreed to. Dangote said United Arab Emirates state oil company ADNOC ADNOC.UL was interested in investing in the plant alongside others but declined to elaborate over non-disclosure agreements.

Africa Finance Corporation, one of the institutional investors in the private placement, saying other investors included sovereign wealth funds and other development finance institutions. Investors can participate in the IPO by buying as few as 10 shares on fintech and other digital investment platforms, which translates into a minimum investment amount of about $4.