African companies and governments have completed or announced 15 equity listings this year, and 14 of them are on African exchanges, from Lagos and Nairobi to Luanda, Abidjan, Casablanca, Accra and Addis Ababa. The buyers are largely African too. In Casablanca, 111,149 investors applied for shares in T2S Group Holding, according to the exchange. In Abidjan, 17,544 bought into Bridge Bank Group Côte d’Ivoire. In Luanda, the sale of a stake in Unitel added 11,264 shareholders, and in Addis Ababa, 47,377 Ethiopian citizens bought shares in Ethio Telecom.
The season’s largest offer follows the same path. The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is selling shares on the Nigerian Exchange, with retail investors able to buy as few as 10 shares through banks, brokers and fintech platforms, and the group is now working on routes for investors elsewhere on the continent to take part.
The 2026 listings at a glance
- Kenya Pipeline Company, Nairobi Securities Exchange, listed 10 March: the government sold 65% for KSh 106.3 billion (about $825 million).
- ZEN Petroleum, Ghana Stock Exchange, listed 22 April: raised GHS 640 million (about $58 million) for 20% of its enlarged share capital.
- Ethio Telecom, Ethiopian Securities Exchange, listed 26 May: state offer to 47,377 Ethiopian citizens, with holdings valued at ETB 3.04 billion (about $18.8 million).
- Canal+, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, listed 3 June: secondary listing by introduction, no shares sold.
- Kasapreko, Ghana Stock Exchange, listed 17 June: raised GHS 700 million (about $64 million) through new shares.
- Family Bank, Nairobi Securities Exchange, listed 23 June: listing by introduction of about 1.66 billion shares, implied value KSh 29.9 billion.
- T2S Group Holding, Casablanca Stock Exchange, listed 27 July: MAD 1.1 billion (about $120 million), including MAD 350 million of new shares.
- Unitel, BODIVA, listed 29 July: the government sold 15% for 300.3 billion kwanzas ($329 million).
- Bridge Bank Group Côte d’Ivoire, BRVM, listed 24 September: 20% sold by Bridge Group West Africa for CFA 67.5 billion (about $120 million).
- Sidama Bank, Ethiopian Securities Exchange, listed 28 September: listing by introduction of about 1.45 million existing shares.
- Quickmart, Nairobi Securities Exchange, intention to float announced 23 September: proposed sale of 50% by Sokoni Retail Kenya, subject to regulatory approval, with the price and timetable not yet published.
- Airtel Money, London Stock Exchange, pricing expected mid-October: sale of existing shares.
- Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Nigerian Exchange, offer closes 13 October, listing expected November: 4.1 billion new shares for ₦2.15 trillion (about $1.63 billion).
- Banque du Caire, Egyptian Exchange, targeted for November: sale of a 30% state stake.
- Coca-Cola HBC, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, at or around completion of its $2.6 billion CCBA acquisition, targeted by the end of 2026: secondary listing.
Africa’s largest offer lists at home
The refinery is selling 4.1 billion new shares at ₦525 each, which would raise ₦2.15 trillion, about $1.63 billion, according to the offer registered with Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has said the proceeds will fund expansion of the refinery. The offer values the business at about $49 billion, closes on 13 October, and the shares are expected to begin trading on the Nigerian Exchange in November.
Aliko Dangote took the case for African capital to Nairobi on 29 September. Speaking to East African institutional investors at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, he said the group’s East African refinery in Lamu will list in Nairobi, and responded to suggestions of a New York listing by calling it “an African company to benefit Africa.” He and President William Ruto broke ground on the Lamu refinery the next day.
At the same event, Renaissance Capital chief executive Stanley Kariuki set out the investment bank’s proposal for global depositary receipts, backed by the Nigerian refinery’s shares and traded in Nairobi, so that East African investors can take part in the current offer before a cross-listing is agreed. The proposal requires approval from Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority. Nairobi Securities Exchange chief executive Frank Mwiti has said the exchange is in talks with Dangote, the Nigerian Exchange and Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission about a cross-listing of the refinery.
Governments sell to their own citizens
Kenya opened the year with the sale of 65% of Kenya Pipeline Company. The National Treasury raised KSh 106.3 billion (about $825 million) at KSh 9 a share, with the offer 105.7% subscribed on demand from local institutional investors and investors from across the East African Community, including the Uganda National Oil Company. The shares began trading on 10 March, the first state share sale through the Nairobi Securities Exchange since Safaricom in 2008. On 23 April, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi transferred KSh 103 billion of the proceeds to the National Infrastructure Fund, which the Treasury has said will finance energy, road, water and airport projects without adding to public debt.
Angola raised 300.3 billion kwanzas ($329 million) in July from the sale of a 15% stake in Unitel, its largest telecommunications operator, at the top of the price range. BODIVA chief executive Cristina Lourenço said it was the largest offer in the exchange’s history, and Unitel became the first non-financial company on the Luanda exchange when trading began on 29 July.
Ethio Telecom became the first state-owned enterprise on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange on 26 May, after an offer open only to Ethiopian citizens. Its 45,000 verified shareholders hold shares valued at ETB 3.04 billion (about $18.8 million), the company said.
Egypt is preparing the next state offer. Hashem El-Sayed, head of the cabinet’s State-Owned Enterprises Unit, said in June that the government aims to sell 30% of Banque du Caire on the Egyptian Exchange in November, and a cabinet committee approved the method for an updated valuation on 10 September.
Private companies come to market
Ghana’s exchange recorded two oversubscribed offers in the first half. ZEN Petroleum raised GHS 640 million (about $58 million) and listed on 22 April. Kasapreko, the maker of Alomo Bitters, raised GHS 700 million (about $64 million) from 18,781 applicants, led by local institutional investors; the company said the money will expand production capacity and its international operations.
In Casablanca, T2S Group Holding’s MAD 1.1 billion (about $120 million) offer drew demand of MAD 48.13 billion, 43.75 times the shares available, according to the exchange. The offer combined MAD 350 million of new shares for the company with MAD 750 million sold by its shareholder, Trone Investment Holdings.
In Abidjan, Bridge Group West Africa sold 20% of Bridge Bank Group Côte d’Ivoire for CFA 67.5 billion (about $120 million), and the offer was fully subscribed in less than a day. The shares listed on the BRVM on 24 September at CFA 6,750 and closed at CFA 9,000 on 29 September, according to exchange data.
Kenya has two private listings. Family Bank listed about 1.66 billion existing shares by introduction on 23 June at KSh 18 each, an implied value of KSh 29.9 billion, after raising KSh 8 billion in a private placement in 2025. Quickmart, which describes itself as Kenya’s second-largest modern grocery retailer, announced on 23 September that its owner, Sokoni Retail Kenya, plans to sell half the company on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. “Listing on the NSE will give Kenyans the opportunity to own a share of a business they already shop in,” Group Chief Executive Peter Kang’iri said.
Exchanges widen the pipeline
The Ethiopian Securities Exchange added Sidama Bank on 28 September, its seventh listed company, and announced on 17 September that it had granted approval in principle to 11 companies, enough to take it from six listed companies to 17 if all complete the process. The exchange has not said whether Sidama Bank was among the 11. Chief executive Yodit Kassa said at least six could reach the market by early January, and the exchange has set a target of 50 listed companies by 2030.
In Johannesburg, Canal+ began trading on 3 June through a secondary listing, fulfilling a commitment made to South African competition authorities when it acquired MultiChoice. Coca-Cola HBC plans a secondary listing on the JSE at or around completion of its $2.6 billion purchase of a 75% stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, which the company says will make it the world’s second-largest Coca-Cola bottler by volume. The listing is among the conditions the Competition Commission attached to its recommendation of the deal, which the Competition Tribunal approved with conditions in September. The company is targeting completion by the end of 2026.
London remains the choice for one of the year’s larger deals. Airtel Money, the mobile money business of Airtel Africa, announced on 23 September that it intends to list on the London Stock Exchange through a sale of existing shares. In Lagos, Nigerian Exchange Group chief executive Temi Popoola has urged companies that earn most of their revenue in Nigeria and plan overseas listings to also list at home, so that Nigerian investors can share in their growth.
What to watch
Five dates over the next three months will show how far African demand reaches across borders.
- 13 October: the Dangote refinery offer closes, and the subscription results will show how far demand reached beyond Nigeria.
- Mid-October: Airtel Money expects to price its London offer.
- Quickmart information memorandum: will set the price and timetable for Kenya’s second offer of the year.
- November: the Dangote refinery is expected to begin trading on the Nigerian Exchange, and Egypt aims to sell the Banque du Caire stake.
- Early January: at least six of the companies approved in September could list on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange, according to chief executive Yodit Kassa.