KEY POINTS
- BUA Group expansion follows a ₦30 billion employee reward.
- BUA Group expansion spans food, cement and agribusiness.
- Profits surged across BUA’s listed businesses in 2025.
Just days after BUA Group stunned Nigeria’s corporate landscape with a ₦30 billion ($20.7 million) cash reward for long-serving employees, founder and Executive Chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu offered an unusually personal glimpse into life away from boardrooms.
In a short Instagram video shared over the weekend, the Nigerian billionaire moves from a boat cruise to beach rides, appearing visibly relaxed. Captioned “Catch me if you can… from Lagos waves to beach rides,” the post quickly drew attention, coming on the heels of one of the most widely discussed employee reward initiatives in recent Nigerian corporate history.
Rabiu, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $8.9 billion, rarely shares private moments publicly. The timing of the post immediately after a high-profile staff payout, added to its resonance, underscoring a rare pause following months of intense corporate activity.
BUA Group expansion and dealmaking surge
The brief holiday moment followed a demanding period for BUA Group, one of Africa’s largest industrial conglomerates. Between late November and early December, the company signed multiple high-profile agreements, including a deal to acquire Bombardier’s Global 8000 business jet.
BUA also pushed ahead with expansion in food and agribusiness, signing contracts for a 32-tonnes-per-hour rice processing line and partnering with Türkiye’s Viteral Integrated Milling Systems to build a 40-tonnes-per-hour animal feed mill in Kano.
These moves complement one of the group’s flagship projects: Nigeria’s largest integrated sugar complex. The plant will process 10,000 tons of cane every day, create 35 megawatts of power from bagasse, and make 20 million gallons of industrial ethanol every year when it is done. This will aid local farming and power generation while cutting down on the need for imports.
BUA Group expansion fuels profit surge
BUA’s operational push has been matched by strong financial performance. BUA Foods Plc reported profit of ₦405.2 billion for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2025, more than twice as much as the year before, when it reached ₦1.42 trillion.
BUA Cement also did well, with profits rising to ₦289.86 billion thanks to stronger prices and steady demand. Those results provided the backdrop for last week’s employee awards, where 1,706 staff shared ₦30 billion in cash at the BUA Night of Excellence in Lagos.
According to Billionaires Africa, Rabiu said that the payment was a way to show appreciation for loyalty and hard work, which supports a culture of rewarding long-term commitment.
