Nigeria’s National Pension Commission (PENCOM) has given Pension Fund Administrators its blessing to participate in the planned Initial public offering of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE (DPRP).
The circular, which takes immediate effect and was signed by A. M. Saleem, the Director, Surveillance Department, granted an exceptional (and) one-off special dispensation from Section 6.2.7.1 (iii) of the Revised Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets.
Specifically, the commission according to the circular with reference: PenCom/INSP/Surv/2026/98, dated May 13, 2026, waived the requirement for “applicable existence, profitability, and dividend requirements without prejudice to other extant regulatory safeguards.”
This, it said, followed a review of the request for a special dispensation that would permit Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest pension fund assets in the IPO, assuring that the commission had 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 reaching its decision, PenCom said it considered Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s strategic importance, strong fundamentals, and wide-ranging economic benefits, and the growth potential, stressing that it also took into account the record of Dangote Industries Limited, DPRP’s majority shareholder.
Furthermore, the commission warned that the regulatory forbearance granted under this circular is strictly case-specific to the Initial Public Offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE and “shall not constitute an automatic precedent for future Initial Public Offerings or other investment transactions.”
However, despite this waiver, the circular requires PFAs “to ensure that all investments made under this dispensation are undertaken in line with their internal investment policies, risk management frameworks, and fiduciary duties to contributors and retirees.”
