Abdul Samad Rabiu, the Other Billionaire Industrialist Who Wants to Change Nigeria

He suddenly became the second-richest person in Africa when Bloomberg revalued his assets at around $19 billion in May. He now ranks just behind his fellow Nigerian Aliko Dangote, who is much more famous and widely covered in the media, but ahead of the handful of prominent white South African families who have long occupied the upper echelons of this ranking. Until then, for many people, Abdul Samad Rabiu was simply one of Nigeria’s billionaires, in a vast oil-rich country marked by staggering income inequality. It is also the continent’s most populous nation (237 million people), with enormous demand for basic commodities.

It was precisely on these commodities that Rabiu built his empire, the BUA Group. The first pillar of his business is cement, a crucial material in a country lacking roads, housing and hospitals. Nigeria also has the raw materials needed to produce cement at low cost. In May, BUA Cement reported a 381.7% increase in profits for 2025, the equivalent of €225 million in naira, on revenue of €644 million.

The other pillar is food. BUA Foods, which sells sugar, rice, flour, pasta and oils – staples of Nigerian cuisine – has also soared, overtaking cement, with profits of around €300 million on €1 billion in revenue in 2025. These are striking levels of profitability. In recent years, both companies have become some of the largest stocks on the Lagos Stock Exchange. Rabiu owns 98% and 93% of them, respectively.

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