Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, has revealed plans to invest $100 million in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery as the company intensifies preparations for a planned initial public offering (IPO).

Otedola disclosed the planned investment on Wednesday after leading top executives of First HoldCo on a tour of the refinery and fertiliser complex located within the Lekki Free Trade Zone.

The proposed investment forms part of the refinery’s ongoing $2 billion private placement targeted at private investors ahead of the planned public listing.

Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, said the private placement represents the latest phase in the refinery’s IPO programme expected later this year, although no official listing date has yet been announced.

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Dangote had earlier disclosed that the refinery could sell up to a 10 percent stake during the listing process. According to Bloomberg estimates referenced by the company, the proposed sale could be valued at about $5 billion.

The billionaire businessman is pursuing a cross-border listing strategy aimed at attracting both domestic and international investors while broadening African participation in industrial investments.

Dangote has repeatedly described the planned IPO as part of efforts to democratise wealth creation and allow Africans to directly participate in the continent’s industrial transformation.

Bloomberg reported on May 12 that Dangote is targeting a valuation of as much as $50 billion for the refinery business ahead of the listing.

The executives visiting the facility alongside Otedola were also taken round key infrastructure projects within the industrial complex, including the refinery jetty designed to receive large cargo vessels.