By Ayomide Otitoju
Dangote Industries has appointed MTN Group Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, to the board of Dangote Fertiliser Limited, as the conglomerate steps up plans to expand the business and pursue a listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).
The appointment was confirmed by the Managing Director of Dangote Fertiliser, Vishwajit Sinha, in an email response to enquiries from Bloomberg. The move is widely viewed as a strategic step ahead of the company’s proposed initial public offering (IPO), which is expected later this year.
Dangote Fertiliser, which operates a $2.5 billion production complex in Lagos, currently produces about three million metric tonnes of granulated urea annually. The company has outlined ambitious expansion plans aimed at becoming the world’s largest fertiliser producer by 2028.
Mupita’s addition to the board is expected to strengthen the company’s capital markets and corporate governance credentials as it prepares to open its ownership structure to public investors. He led the landmark listing of MTN Nigeria on the NGX in 2019, one of the most significant capital market transactions in the country’s recent history.
Since the listing, MTN Nigeria’s revenues have more than quadrupled, and the company has grown into one of the NGX’s most valuable stocks. With an estimated market capitalisation of about $8.6 billion, MTN Nigeria is currently the exchange’s second-largest listed company, behind BUA Foods.
Mupita has served as CEO of MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecommunications operator by subscriber base, for over five years, having joined the company in 2017 as chief financial officer. Prior to MTN, he held senior leadership roles at South Africa-based financial services group Old Mutual. He is an engineer by training, a background seen as aligning with the industrial scale and technical complexity of Dangote’s operations.
As part of its growth strategy, Dangote has disclosed plans to expand its Lagos fertiliser facility and commence construction of a new plant in Ethiopia this year, further strengthening its footprint across Africa. Beyond fertiliser, the Dangote Group is also preparing to list its refinery business, according to earlier statements by founder Aliko Dangote.
The planned IPOs are expected to help the group raise fresh capital, deepen transparency and broaden ownership to include domestic and international institutional investors.
Mupita’s appointment comes amid rising demand for agricultural inputs across Africa. With the continent’s population growing rapidly, the African Development Bank estimates that Africa’s agricultural sector could exceed $1 trillion by 2030. However, low fertiliser usage, limited access to finance and weak infrastructure continue to constrain productivity, creating significant opportunities for large-scale producers such as Dangote Fertiliser.
