Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
Nigerian music superstar David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, joined Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, in New York’s Times Square on Tuesday as the ongoing Initial Public Offering of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals took over one of the world’s most iconic digital billboards, in a moment that fused Nigerian pop culture with the country’s most ambitious industrial project.
A video of the appearance, shared on Davido’s Instagram story, showed the singer and the billionaire standing beneath the towering Nasdaq digital display bearing the message, “Made in Nigeria. Built for the World,” as a small crowd filmed the moment. Davido, dressed in a black suit and sunglasses, gestured towards the screen alongside Dangote, who wore a grey suit. The two waved and flashed thumbs-up signals as onlookers captured the scene.
The billboard forms part of a promotional campaign for the refinery’s public offer, which opened on September 14, 2026, and is scheduled to close on October 13, 2026. The offer puts 4.1 billion ordinary shares on the market at N525 per share, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares, targeting Nigerian and other African investors. If fully subscribed, it is expected to raise about N2.15 trillion. Dangote has described the offer as an “IPO for the people,” saying the low minimum subscription was designed to let retail investors buy into the refinery alongside institutional investors.
The Times Square activation was not Dangote’s first appearance at the location. He had led a delegation of the conglomerate’s senior executive leadership to Times Square on September 19 to unveil the global media showcase on the Nasdaq Tower electronic billboard. The delegation included Group Executive Directors Halima Aliko Dangote and Fatima Aliko Dangote, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, David Bird, Group Chief Financial Officer, Murat Erden, and other senior executives. Davido’s presence on Tuesday added a new dimension to the campaign, bringing the visibility of Afrobeats, one of Nigeria’s most successful cultural exports, to a project that has been positioned as a symbol of African industrial ambition.
The moment carried personal weight beyond business. Davido had previously spoken about his close relationship with Dangote, describing the billionaire as a family friend who drove his mother home from the hospital after his birth and has continued to offer him guidance over the years. The singer was also one of the people who showed interest in participating in the refinery’s private placement earlier in 2026, posting and later deleting a blank Dangote Refinery IPO application form that sparked social media buzz about his involvement.
The refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, was built over a decade at an estimated cost of $20 billion. It has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and has become a central part of Nigeria’s efforts to reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum products. Reuters reported that the facility is now operating at full capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day. The company’s public offering is also being positioned as a way of expanding participation in the Nigerian capital market. The Nigerian Exchange Group said the IPO is the first time a petroleum refinery has been offered to investors on the Nigerian stock market in the exchange’s 66-year history.
The New York activation coincides with corporate disclosures made by Dangote during the ringing of the opening gong at the Nigerian Exchange in Lagos on September 14, where he revealed that the refinery is weighing a secondary listing on a major American stock exchange, either the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq, within the next three to four years. Company executives indicated that achieving a secondary listing in New York would provide access to deeper international capital pools while subjecting its operational and financial governance frameworks to international regulatory scrutiny. The refinery is also actively executing expansion plans to double its throughput capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2030, a milestone that would position the facility ahead of India’s Jamnagar complex as the single largest petroleum refining hub in the world.
The IPO aims to onboard up to 10 million retail and institutional shareholders across Africa, offering a minimum subscription threshold of 10 shares valued at N5,250 to democratise wealth creation and foster broader public participation in critical national infrastructure. Financial analysts note that the dual-track strategy of mobilising domestic retail investment while asserting a high-profile marketing presence in global financial capitals signals the company’s determination to transition from an indigenous private asset into an internationally traded blue-chip energy conglomerate.
The video of Davido and Dangote at Times Square spread rapidly online, with many Nigerians expressing pride at seeing the pairing promote a homegrown industrial project on such a prominent world stage. Reactions ranged from celebration of the cultural and commercial synergy to acknowledgment of the refinery’s significance as a symbol of what Nigerian enterprise can achieve. The moment brought together two of Nigeria’s most recognisable figures, a musician whose global reach has made him a cultural ambassador and an industrialist whose refinery has become a test case for Africa’s capacity to process its own resources.
The promotional push in New York comes at a critical juncture for the refinery’s public offer, which has already generated significant interest from institutional and retail investors. The proceeds from the IPO will support the company’s expansion plans, including the increase in refining capacity and the potential secondary listing on a United States exchange. For Dangote, the Times Square display represents the culmination of years of effort to position the refinery not merely as a Nigerian asset but as a global energy player. For Davido, his presence alongside Dangote underscores the intersection of Nigeria’s cultural soft power and its industrial ambitions.
As the IPO remains open until October 13, the coming weeks will determine whether the offer achieves the full subscription that would validate Dangote’s vision of an “IPO for the people.” The Times Square activation has placed the refinery before a global audience at a time when the company is seeking to broaden its ownership base and deepen its access to international capital. Whether the image of Davido and Dangote beneath the Nasdaq billboard translates into sustained investor confidence remains to be seen, but for one afternoon in New York, Nigeria’s music and industry stood side by side at the centre of the world’s most iconic crossroads.
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