KEY POINTS
- Rabiu wealth surge lifts fortune near $10 billion.
- BUA Cement and Foods shares drive gains.
- Employee bonuses followed strong profits and rally.
Less than a month after BUA Group stunned Nigeria’s corporate scene with a rare N30 billion cash award to long-serving staff, founder Abdul Samad Rabiu is seeing his personal fortune surge again.
His net worth is now estimated at about $9.7 billion, bringing him within reach of the $10 billion milestone and underscoring the scale of an empire built across cement, food processing, sugar refining and infrastructure.
The latest increase caps an exceptional year. Rabiu began 2025 with an estimated fortune of about $5.1 billion. By the end of December, it had further climbed to $9.5 billion, largely on the back of sharp gains in BUA Cement and BUA Foods, the group’s two listed companies. Early January trading added roughly $200 million more, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires index.
BUA Cement and Foods drive Rabiu wealth surge
BUA Cement has been a major contributor to the Rabiu wealth surge. Shares recently rose about 2.5 percent, extending a rally that has delivered gains of roughly 96 percent over the past year. The company produces around 11 million tonnes annually, making it Nigeria’s second-largest cement maker in a region supported by steady construction demand. Rabiu’s 97.66 percent stake is now valued at about N5.9 trillion ($4.1 billion).
According to Billionaires Africa, BUA Foods has played an even larger role in the Rabiu wealth surge. Its shares are up about 92.5 percent year-on-year, valuing Rabiu’s 92.63 percent holding at roughly N13.32 trillion ($9.28 billion). The business spans sugar refining, flour, pasta, edible oils and rice, positioning it as one of Nigeria’s most important food suppliers. Furthermore on the Nigerian Exchange, Rabiu now ranks as the single largest investor by value, ahead of Aliko Dangote. Bloomberg estimates liabilities of about $2.98 billion, which continue to cap his net worth below $10 billion.
Profits soar as Rabiu shares gains
The market rally reflects strong operating performance. BUA Foods posted profit of N405.2 billion for the nine months to Sept. 30, 2025, more than double the prior year, while revenue climbed to N1.42 trillion. BUA Cement reported profit of N289.86 billion over the same period, up sharply from a year earlier, with revenue rising to N858.7 billion.
Those gains provided the backdrop for the employee awards. Five staff received N1 billion each, another five got N500 million, and dozens more shared amounts ranging from N5 million to N100 million. The payouts also highlighted how growth at the top has translated into rewards across the workforce, even as Rabiu edges closer to one of Africa’s most exclusive financial clubs.
