- Marob Strategies and Lilium Capital say $600 million is already funded
- A further $400 million is pledged, but its route to the market is unclear
- Oramah’s former bank remains the refinery’s single largest financier
Two financial intermediation vehicles run by former executives of the African Export-Import Bank are working to channel $1 billion into Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE ahead of the plant’s planned listing.
Marob Strategies and Consulting DIFC Ltd, the Dubai-based firm chaired by Benedict Oramah, who ran Afreximbank until 2025, and Lilium Capital Group, chaired by Simon Tiemtoré, have been appointed co-financial advisers and structuring agents for what they call Global Africa, according to a joint statement received by Ecofin Agency. Tiemtoré, who controls Vista Bank Group, previously headed corporate finance and advisory services at Afreximbank and sat on its executive committee.
The two vehicles have already delivered $600 million, the statement said, apparently within the private placement DPRP closed in July. That round raised $2.5 billion from private investors, was 3.7 times oversubscribed, and was led by the Africa Finance Corporation, which headed a group of strategic investors. The statement does not say what stake the $600 million buys, at what valuation, or which end investors took the paper.
The remaining $400 million is a commitment, not cash. Pan-African Refinery Investment SPV, a Lilium subsidiary, is named as guarantor, and the release says the money will be activated at the time of the offering, subject to market conditions, internal and regulatory approvals, definitive documentation, and applicable securities law. The statement does not make clear whether it will reach the refinery through a further private placement or through the public offer itself. No offering has been launched and no prospectus approved.
The distinction carries weight in Lagos. The SEC warned on June 23 that operators were soliciting advance subscriptions and said it had received no IPO application at that point. It has since closed its investigation into the premature promotion of the offer and said it is imposing sanctions, without naming the firms.
DPRP filed its listing application with the commission in early August, according to SEC Director-General Emomotimi Agama, who told BusinessDay that the refinery’s advisers were working with his teams to process it and that he saw no regulatory obstacle to the planned timetable. The company has not announced the filing itself, and the SEC has published no formal notice.
The Afreximbank thread
The mandate reunites two men with the institution that assembled the refinery’s debt. Under Oramah, Afreximbank put its total direct and indirect support for the complex at $2.6 billion by mid-2024, extended a $1 billion working capital facility at start-up in February 2024, and in August 2025 signed a $1.35 billion facility as mandated lead arranger of a roughly $4 billion syndicated refinancing of construction costs. Oramah framed those deals around the argument that Africa’s transformation can only be financed from within.
His successor has held the position. In March, Afreximbank underwrote $2.5 billion of a $4 billion senior syndicated term loan for DPRP, with Access Bank as co-arranger. George Elombi called the bank the single largest provider of financing to the Dangote group, which has taken about $15 billion since 2015. Oramah attended the Cairo signing as former president.
What the market is being told
The terms keep moving. Dangote has spoken of floating roughly 10% of the refinery. Agama pointed to a September debut when he confirmed the filing; more recent indications point to October. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which says it is discussing a secondary listing, refers to an IPO of about $5 billion and says Dangote intends to list in Nigeria first—reported valuations run from $40 billion to $50 billion. The company has not confirmed any of it.
The information memorandum, when published, should settle two things this statement leaves open: who subscribed to the July placement, and on what terms. Until then, the $1 billion program will remain one funded tranche and one conditional promise.
Idriss Linge
