…Abdul Samad Rabiu is the Chairman of BUA Group of Companies with a net worth of $3.2 billion
Nigeria Today explores one of Nigeria’s wealthiest men, Abdul Samad Rabiu as he celebrates his 60th birthday today.
Abdul Samad Rabiu is the chairman of BUA Group and third richest man in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion. In July 7, 2020, Forbes listed him as the 8th richest man in Africa.
Here are 5 things you probably don’t know about him:
1. HE AND DANGOTE COME FROM THE SAME STATE
Abdul Samad Rabiu was born on 4th August 1960. He hails from Kano State, Nigeria. His late father was Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu, a notable industrialist in the 1970/1980’s. Abdul Samad had his early education in his hometown before he proceeded to the United States of America to study Economics at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.
He returned to Nigeria in 1984 to manage his father’s estate as he was being detained by the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari for alleged failure to pay rice import duties.
2. BUA FIRST MADE ITS FORTUNES FROM STEEL
Abdul Samad Rabiu started BUA International Limited in 1988 to concentrate on commodity trading of imported rice, edible oil, flour, iron, and steel. He had a contract with government-owned Delta Steel Company in 1990 to provide raw materials in exchange for finished products. This business adventure launched the company into its financial explosion, as it expanded further into steel, production of billets, importation of iron ore, and construction of multiple rolling mills.
In the following years, BUA acquired Nigerian Oil Mills Limited as the biggest oil processing company in the country. It established two flour-milling firms in Lagos and Kano in 2005.
3. BUA BROKE DANGOTE’S MONOPOLY ON SUGAR
In 2008, BUA commissioned the second largest sugar refinery in sub-Sahara Africa thereby breaking an eight-year monopoly by Dangote in the Nigerian sugar industry. In 2009, BUA started the construction of a $900 million cement plant in Edo State which was completed in 2015, after acquiring a controlling stake in a publicly-listed Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, CCNN.
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4. BUA COMPANIES CUT ACROSS 4 MAJOR INDUSTRIES
The BUA Group consists of businesses across four major industries including agriculture (food processing), maritime, construction and real estate.
Under the food processing, it has the BUA Sugar Refinery Limited which was incorporated on April 13, 2005, and the BUA Oils Mills Limited in Lagos, Nigeria, which he bought from the Golden Oil Company and had been in operation for nearly 20 years.
There is also the BUA Ports and Terminals Limited which was incorporated on March 28, 2006. It is a concessionaire for the Port Harcourt Terminal ‘B’ of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).
Uner construction, there is the popular BUA Cement. He owns a strong capacity in cement manufacturing with 3 major subsidiaries and factories in Northern and Southern Nigeria, possessing 2 million metric tons annually. In early January 2020, Rabiu merged his privately-owned Obu Cement company with listed firm Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled. The combined firm, called BUA Cement Plc, trades on the Nigerian stock exchange.
The last of his conglomerates is the BUA Estates, which the billionaire established to meet Nigeria’s housing deficits which stand at over 20 million units per annum.
5. HIS BROTHER IS THE OWNER OF IRS AIRLINE
Abdul Samad Rabiu has 42 siblings, notable among them is Rabiu Rabiu, the chairman of IRS Airlines. He is married with five children. The children include Isyaku, Junaid, Rukkayah Rania, and Khadijah.
