Wayve Microfinance Bank, operator of the WayvePay digital banking platform, said on Thursday that it has withdrawn its promotional materials for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals initial public offering and removed the subscription link from its mobile application, days after Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission publicly disowned the platform. The bank said no investor has subscribed for shares in the refinery’s offer through WayvePay since the promotion was published.
The SEC’s notice was dated Friday, October 9 and posted on its website the next day. It followed an October 6 newspaper advertisement in which WayvePay announced that it was making the refinery’s share sale accessible to its customers. The commission said WayvePay was “not registered by the Commission” to solicit investments from the public or operate in the capital market, and it advised Nigerians to avoid investment transactions involving the platform, saying anyone who deals with it does so at their own risk. The quoted text of the notice addresses registration status and does not itself allege fraud, though some reports of the notice described suspected fraudulent activity as the concern.
The bank’s reply, issued through Kingsley Ezenwa, its head of corporate communications and marketing, separates the license from the platform. Wayve Microfinance Bank is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and its eligible deposits are insured by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, subject to applicable limits. The IPO arrangement, it said, was a partnership with Coronation Securities under a duly executed agreement: WayvePay was linked to Coronation to facilitate the relevant IPO-related activity, and subscription money was directed to Coronation Securities rather than to the bank. The bank said it “takes the SEC’s communication and the concerns raised seriously” and is engaging the regulator and supplying documentation.
What the record available to The Eastern Updates does not show is whether Coronation Securities is among the channels the SEC has authorized for the offer, whether the SEC has objected to Coronation’s role, or what the commission wants the bank to do beyond stopping the promotion. Coronation had not commented in the material reviewed, and the SEC’s notice, as quoted, names WayvePay only.
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The channel question matters because the offer was built around authorized intermediaries. The Dangote refinery’s IPO opened on September 14 and offers 4.1 billion new ordinary shares at N525 each, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares, or N5,250. It aims to raise about N2.15 trillion, roughly $1.6 billion, or up to $2.1 billion if an overallotment option is exercised, to help fund expansion of the 700,000-barrel-a-day complex near Lagos. The offer is aimed at retail, institutional and eligible African investors, and the company has said it hopes to reach up to 10 million retail participants. About 55 digital subscription channels were authorized at launch, among them NGX Invest and designated commercial banks.
The SEC issued its first warning on opening day. Investors should use only authorized channels, it said, and should confirm that any stockbroker, bank or fintech platform handling subscriptions is registered and approved for the offer. The existence of a company, platform or social media account does not amount to regulatory approval to receive applications or money, the commission added. It told investors not to send funds to individuals or entities claiming to receive applications outside approved channels.
Regulators have been wary of this offer from the start. On June 23, the SEC ordered an immediate halt to all marketing tied to a purported Dangote refinery IPO, saying no application had been filed or approved and that some licensed operators were soliciting advance subscriptions. One account of that directive said operators were told to remove advertising materials within 24 hours and refund any money collected. The formal offer later opened with the commission’s approval.
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The prospectus complicates the pan-African pitch. It shows the share sale was not registered as a public offering outside Nigeria, so investors elsewhere must rely on local rules or reach it through a limited number of eligible online platforms. The SEC approved a two-week extension, moving the close from October 13 to October 27. David Bird, the refinery’s chief executive, said the extension would give more investors across Africa the opportunity to take part, and the company cited strong interest across the continent. Aliko Dangote has framed the sale as a way to democratize wealth creation for ordinary Nigerians and investors abroad.
The refinery, owned by Dangote, began processing crude in early 2024 and is central to Nigeria’s effort to cut fuel imports and become a net exporter of refined products. The SEC’s guidance to investors is to pay only through channels authorized for the offer and to send money to no one outside them.
Wayve said it will keep cooperating with the SEC through its established regulatory processes. The offer closes on October 27.
The Eastern Updates
