In short: in six weeks, three African businesses went to public markets in three different places. Airtel Money listed in London, MNT-Halan in Cairo and Dangote Petroleum Refinery offered shares in Lagos. Each chose a different venue, a different investor base and a different legal model. Read together, they show how African equity capital is being raised this autumn, and who advises on it.
Three listings, side by side
| Airtel Money | MNT-Halan | Dangote Petroleum Refinery | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | London Stock Exchange | Egyptian Exchange | Nigerian Exchange (offer for subscription) |
| Shares offered | 270m existing shares at £1.96 | 320m existing shares (20%) at EGP 24.50 | Up to 4.1bn new shares at ₦525 |
| Size | c. £529m (US$703m) | c. US$150m | c. ₦2.15tn (c. US$1.6bn) if fully taken up |
| Who received the money | Selling shareholders | Selling shareholder | The company |
| Demand disclosed | Reported as several times covered | Institutional 11.2x; retail 43.6x | Final allotment not yet announced |
| Counsel named | Gibson Dunn (underwriters) | Gibson Dunn (issuer and seller); White & Case (joint global coordinators) | Olaniwun Ajayi (joint solicitor); ÆLEX (solicitors to the offer); Banwo & Ighodalo (reported as solicitors to the issuer) |
Venue is a statement about the investor
Airtel Money went to London because its natural buyers are global emerging-market funds and because its parent, Airtel Africa, already trades there. The offer was a secondary sale: existing shareholders sold, the company raised nothing, and Airtel Africa, which held nearly 78% before the offer, stays in control. London gave the sellers depth and a dollar valuation of about US$7 billion.
MNT-Halan stayed at home and still drew foreign money. More than 300 institutions in over ten countries placed orders in the institutional tranche, and Egyptian retail investors covered their tranche 43.6 times. The selling shareholder has also committed to subscribe for up to EGP 4 billion of new shares at the offer price, so new capital follows the secondary sale.
Dangote chose Lagos and a primary raise. It is the only one of the three in which the company itself receives the proceeds, and the only one whose final allotment is still pending. Until the allotment is published, any figure for demand is a press report, not a fact.
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Who advised, and what it shows
One firm on both sides of the season. Gibson Dunn acted for the underwriters on Airtel Money in London and for the issuer and the selling shareholder on MNT-Halan in Cairo. Associate Mostafa Mabrouk is named on both teams. Being on the bank side of one deal and the company side of another in the same month is a record worth noting.
Cairo is a two-firm market for the banks. White & Case advised Citi and EFG as joint global coordinators on MNT-Halan, with partners in Cairo, Paris, London and Dubai. The issuer and the banks each brought an international firm with a Cairo bench.
Lagos is still a domestic-firm market. On the Dangote offer, the named counsel are all Nigerian: Olaniwun Ajayi as joint solicitor, ÆLEX as solicitors to the offer and, as reported, Banwo & Ighodalo for the issuer. A Nigerian offer for subscription is a Nigerian-law document from start to finish, and the work stayed at home.
What to watch
- The Dangote allotment. The size of any over-allotment and the basis of allocation will show how deep the domestic book really was.
- Airtel Money after stabilisation. A first day just under the offer price, as reported, is not unusual for a large secondary sale; the stabilisation period will tell more.
- MNT-Halan’s new-share subscription. The EGP 4 billion commitment turns a secondary sale into a growth story; its completion is the next filing to read.
- The next issuer. Each of these offers widens the set of precedents African boards and their counsel can cite when choosing a venue.
All three transactions are on the Transactions Tracker, with their sources. Market activity is tracked live on the Africa Legal Market Activity Index.
Sources: Legal Era on Airtel Money; The Paypers, 12 October 2026; Gibson Dunn, 20 October 2026; White & Case, 20 October 2026; Olaniwun Ajayi, 14 September 2026; The Guardian (Nigeria), 8 October 2026; Nairametrics, 15 September 2026.
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