ALIKO DANGOTE is the big man of African business. He is the continent’s richest tycoon(巨头，大亨), worth give or take(大约，上下) $30bn. He has built its largest oil-refining complex, roughly half the size of Manhattan, on the outskirts(郊区，市郊) of Lagos. And on September 14th he launched Africa’s biggest ever initial public offering (IPO) for Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the mega-project’s official name, hoping to raise at least $1.6bn at a valuation(估值) of nearly $50bn. If it reaches this market capitalisation when its shares begin trading on the Nigerian Exchange in November, it could instantly become one of Africa’s most valuable listed firms.(如果11月其股票在尼日利亚交易所开始交易时能达到这一市值，它可能立刻跻身非洲市值最高的上市公司之列。)
阿利科·丹格特是非洲商界的头号人物。他是非洲大陆最富有的巨头，身家约300亿美元。他在拉各斯郊区建起了非洲最大的炼油综合体，面积约为曼哈顿的一半。9月14日，他为丹格特石油炼油厂——这个超级项目的正式名称——启动了非洲有史以来规模最大的首次公开募股（IPO），希望以近500亿美元的估值募集至少16亿美元。如果11月其股票在尼日利亚交易所开始交易时能达到这一市值，它可能立刻跻身非洲市值最高的上市公司之列。
The 69-year-old Mr Dangote is giddy(兴奋的，眩晕的) at the prospect. “My own driver, my mother, everybody will now come and have a stake(持有股份，入股),” he tells The Economist. So is the bourse(证券交易所), which has enabled retail investors in rural areas to buy the stock on mini point-of-sales terminals. “Wealth-tech” startups are advising users on how to get in on the action(参与其中，分一杯羹). TikTokers are urging Africans in the diaspora(海外侨民) to buy in. When the IPO began, Bamboo(非洲热门投资应用), a popular trading app, crashed because of sky-high demand. “In future, when we are having our annual general meeting, we will hold it in a stadium,” Mr Dangote venture(大胆说，冒险)s.
69岁的丹格特对这一前景兴奋不已。他告诉《经济学人》：“我的司机、我的母亲，每个人都会来入股。”交易所也同样兴奋，它已让农村地区的散户投资者可以通过迷你销售点终端购买股票。“财富科技”初创公司正在指导用户如何参与其中。TikTok博主们则在呼吁海外非洲人买入。IPO启动时，热门交易应用Bamboo因需求爆棚而崩溃。“将来开年度股东大会时，我们得在体育场里开，”丹格特大胆预测。
Whether or not it fills arenas, stock-picking(选股) is certainly becoming a popular sport across Africa. Retail investors trading shares on their phones are helping lift continental stock markets. The Nigerian benchmark index is up by 71% in dollar terms this year, on a par with South Korea’s but without its artificial-intelligence bets.(尼日利亚基准指数今年以美元计上涨了71%，与韩国不相上下，但后者靠的是人工智能押注。) The Ghanaian one has increased by 50%. In March Zambia’s main index was twice what it had been a year before and has stayed near there since.
无论能否坐满体育场，选股无疑正在成为风靡非洲的全民运动。散户投资者用手机交易股票，正在推高非洲大陆的股市。尼日利亚基准指数今年以美元计上涨了71%，与韩国不相上下，但后者靠的是人工智能押注。加纳指数上涨了50%。今年3月，赞比亚主要指数是一年前的两倍，此后一直维持在该水平附近。