The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has granted Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) a regulatory waiver, which allows them to invest pension assets in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE (DPRP).
The commission, in its circular issued on May 13, which suspended one of investment restrictions on the PFAs on equity investments, clarified that the decision was a one-off exception issued based on Dangote Refinery’s economic importance and strong investment fundamentals.
Specifically, the circular permits PFAs to invest in the IPO bypassing the usual requirements for corporate profitability and dividend history that are typically mandatory for PFA investments.
According to the PenCom, the waiver was given to the PFAs given the strategic significance of the Dangote Refinery’s proposed IPO to the Nigerian economy, which is part of a broader $40 billion expansion project in oil refining, fertiliser production, and other industries.
The circular partly reads: “The Commission has carefully evaluated the strategic investment opportunity and the economic impact of the proposed Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE (DPRP) on the pension industry and the wider economy. In light of these considerations, the Commission has reviewed the request for a special dispensation that would permit Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest pension fund assets in the IPO.”
However, PenCom maintained that the waiver was not setting a precedent for future IPOs but represented a specific and singular exception due to the Dangote refinery’s large-scale impact on Nigeria’s economy.
It would be recalled that the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company’s management announced that the IPO would be opened in mid-2026 and offer approximately 10% of the company’s equity to private investors.