Nigeria's Dangote Cement has dropped its plan for a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, blaming market conditions and its own strategic priorities, in another setback for the London market's efforts to attract large international companies. The company's board took the decision at a meeting on Tuesday, 10 November, and announced it in a filing to the Nigerian Exchange.

Dangote Cement and its controlling shareholder, Dangote Industries Limited, said they would not proceed with the proposed London listing and share offering at this time. The company gave no new date for reviving the plan, and its ordinary shares will continue to trade on the Nigerian Exchange. The company stressed that the decision does not affect its operations or its business plans.

Market volatility behind the pause

A person familiar with the matter said the decision reflected market volatility following the midterm elections in the United States, and that the company could revisit a London listing when conditions are more stable. Wall Street fell sharply last week after the Democrats' midterm victory deepened doubts about how long the boom in artificial intelligence shares can last, and London's FTSE 100 index also ended the week lower.

"These are pretty awful conditions for anyone to attempt an IPO," Samuel Kerr, an analyst at M&A analytics platform Mergermarket, said. He added that Dangote could probably complete a deal now, but waiting for a better market would probably produce a better outcome and possibly a higher valuation.

A listing 15 years in the making

Dangote Cement first disclosed in May that it was in early talks about a London listing, a move that would have widened its access to overseas investors and capital. It is not the first time the idea has been raised: the company has considered a London listing several times over the past 15 years, only for global downturns and the Covid-19 pandemic to derail its attempts.

The proposed transaction was reported to involve the sale of about $1 billion worth of existing shares by Dangote Industries, rather than a fresh issue of new shares to raise money for the company itself. That distinction matters for shareholders: shelving the plan does not remove funding earmarked for Dangote Cement's factories or expansion, but it does delay its ambition to broaden its international shareholder base and improve the liquidity of its shares.

What it means for London and Lagos

With a market value of 24.79 trillion naira, about $18.42 billion, Dangote Cement is one of the most influential stocks on the Nigerian bourse and part of the business empire of Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, who launched Africa's biggest-ever share sale in September with the flotation of his oil refinery on Nigeria's main stock exchange. The cement maker operates across 11 African countries and has installed production capacity of about 55 million tonnes a year.

Its underlying business has remained strong: Investors King reported revenue of about 3.8 trillion naira in the nine months to September 2026, with profit up 31% on the same period of 2025. That suggests the London decision was driven by market timing rather than by any deterioration in the company's trading.

For London, the withdrawal is the latest disappointment in a subdued market for new listings, with a growing number of companies leaving the bourse or being bought out by larger rivals or private equity firms. African mobile money service Airtel Money, which made its London debut last month, has largely traded around its initial price of 1.96 pounds since listing. Whether Dangote Cement returns to London will depend on steadier equity markets, and for now the company has left the door open without setting a timetable.