Dangote Shelves Planned London Listings For Cement  In London Stock Exchange Market

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest business tycoon, has put a stop to his plans to list his cement empire in the UK this year, in the latest setback for the London Stock Exchange after a prolonged dearth of flotations and a string of exits from the market.

Dangote, who also owns the largest oil refinery in Africa, made this known to the Nigerian Stock Exchange in a statement where he stated that the Dangote Cement board had decided not to proceed with a London listing “at this time” because of “current market conditions” on 10th November 2026.

The Nigerian billionaire said in May that Dangote Cement, which has a market capitalisation of $18.4bn through its listing in Lagos, would seek a secondary listing in the UK.

A person close to the decision blamed turbulent equity markets caused by the AI rout in recent weeks. The company had been talking to several cornerstone investors to back a listing of more than a tenth of its shares.

Dangote would have remained the largest investor by far in the group, which has a small free float in Nigeria. The listing would have added liquidity for shareholders in the group rather than raising new money. Dangote Cement — Africa’s biggest producer of building materials — had tapped banks to advise on the move, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Standard Bank, according to people familiar with the matter.

In May, Dangote cited recent steps to make UK secondary listings easier as a factor that had made a London listing more attractive.

A secondary listing of Dangote Cement would be a boost for the London market, which has in recent years suffered high-profile exits of companies including bookmaker Flutter, building materials group CRH and plumbing group Ferguson.

Dangote Cement, which operates in 11 African countries, listed in Lagos in 2010 and is the largest pan-African cement producer. Its controlling shareholder is Dangote Industries, which has interests in sugar, flour, fertiliser and oil refining. The cement company’s management has been on a roadshow to pitch the IPO to investors in London, as well as in the Middle East and South Africa, in recent weeks.

Dangote Cement said the decision not to go ahead with the London listing “does not in any way affect the company’s operations or business plans”. London-based bankers have said that the recent sell-off in equity markets has made it more difficult to raise funds.

Generalist investors have also been reluctant to back resources groups with exposure to developing countries, one banker said.

The small size of the free float may also have deterred some fund managers. Earlier this year, Navoi Mining & Metallurgical Company, Uzbekistan’s state-owned gold producer, paused a planned listing in London.

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