Africa’s biggest cement company just cleared a critical gateway to global capital markets with a shareholder vote that could transform its investor profile.
Dangote Cement shareholders approved management’s bid to pursue a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange at the firm’s 17th annual general meeting in Lagos.
The authorization arrived alongside a record N753.8 billion dividend payout that lifted per-share distributions by 50% from the previous year’s N30 level to N45.
For investors tracking NGX blue chips, this vote signals a new chapter in how African industrial heavyweights pursue international institutional capital and global visibility.
The company has appointed JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Standard Bank to advise on the proposed listing, with September 2026 floated as a target, the Financial Times reported.
With a market capitalization of roughly $13 billion on the Lagos exchange, the cement maker would rank among the largest African equity offerings London has hosted.
What Dangote Cement shareholders approved at the Lagos AGM
Shareholders gave management the green light to pursue a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange or another recognized international securities exchange.
Aliko Dangote, the firm’s founder, told the Financial Times that roughly 10% of its shares would be offered to international investors through the listing.
The listing proposal remains at a preliminary stage, with completion subject to regulatory clearances, market conditions and final deal terms, Company Secretary Edward Imoedemhe confirmed in a filing.
The vote also cleared the company’s record N753.8 billion dividend for the 2025 financial year, translating to N45 per share for all eligible shareholders.
That figure marks a 50% increase from the N30 per share paid the previous year and represents the highest single payout in the company’s history.
Over the past 15 years, the cement manufacturer has distributed more than N3.3 trillion to shareholders in cumulative dividend payments, THISDAY reported.
Dangote Cement’s 2025 results powered the record dividend payout
The record payout rested on the company’s strongest full-year performance, with group revenue climbing 20.3% to N4.307 trillion across all its pan-African operations.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization surged by 43.4% to N1.981 trillion during the full year ending December 2025.
Nigerian operations drove the bulk of that growth, with domestic EBITDA jumping 62.2% to N1.764 trillion on robust sales and improved cost efficiency.
Earnings per share reached N59.86, reflecting the company’s ability to convert top-line expansion into shareholder returns, THISDAY reported.
“In spite of a complex operating environment, 2025 stands as the most successful year in Dangote Cement’s history.” — Emmanuel Ikazoboh, chairman, Dangote Cement, at the 17th AGM (Political Economist)
Cement and clinker exports from Nigeria climbed 18.6% to 1.4 million metric tons in 2025, with clinker vessel shipments rising from 10 to 34 over three years.
Pathak attributed the export surge to improved logistics and deployment of over 3,000 CNG-powered trucks across the company’s Nigerian operations, Supreme Magazine reported.
How London listing fits Dangote Cement’s Vision 2030 expansion
The shareholder vote arrives at a pivotal moment for both the cement maker and the London Stock Exchange as a destination for African equity issuers.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has overhauled its listing rules since 2024, lowering minimum requirements to attract large international companies to the exchange.
Dangote told the Financial Times that the reformed listing standards were a central reason behind the company’s renewed London push, Billionaires.Africa reported.
Dangote Cement currently operates across 11 African countries with an installed production capacity of 55 million metric tons per annum after recent expansion projects.
The company commissioned a three-million-metric-ton grinding plant in Côte d’Ivoire in 2025 and is constructing a six-million-metric-ton integrated facility at Itori, Ogun State.
Under the Dangote Group’s Vision 2030 strategy, management plans to push total installed capacity to 80 million metric tons per annum within the next four years.
“We intend to grow from 55 million tonnes to 80 million tonnes,” Pathak said at the meeting, Arise TV reported.
Key numbers from Dangote Cement’s 17th AGM
- Dividend per share: N45, up 50% from N30 the previous year
- Total payout: N753.8 billion, the highest in company history
- 2025 group revenue: N4.307 trillion, up 20.3% year over year
- 2025 EBITDA: N1.981 trillion, up 43.4% year over year
- Earnings per share: N59.86 for the 2025 financial year
- Installed capacity: 55 million metric tons per annum across 11 African countries
- 2030 capacity target: 80 million metric tons per annum under Vision 2030
- 15-year cumulative dividends: More than N3.3 trillion distributed to shareholders
What shareholders said about Dangote Cement’s growth outlook
Patrick Ajudua, national chairman of the New Dimension Shareholders Association, said the London listing proposal drew strong shareholder support at the Lagos meeting, Leadership reported.
Ajudua also credited Dangote Cement with helping transform Nigeria from a cement-importing nation into a major regional exporter of cement and clinker products, Political Economist reported.
Adebisi Bakare, president of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, lauded the company’s resilience and welcomed the 20.3% revenue growth to N4.307 trillion, Political Economist reported.
Farouk Umar, president of the Association for Advancement of Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, commended the company’s improved profitability and ongoing debt reduction, Political Economist reported.
“This 50% may look to be a number, but there’s a lot of strategy which has gone behind it,” Pathak said at the AGM, Arise TV reported.
