Photo: AbdulSamad Rabiu
By Deborah Nnamdi
Nigerian industrialist Abdulsamad Rabiu has seen his net worth rise to an estimated $12.3 billion as of February 18, 2026, driven by renewed investor confidence in his publicly listed companies and sustained gains in Nigeria’s industrial and consumer goods sectors.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Rabiu’s fortune jumped by $915 million in a single day—an 8.1 per cent increase—bringing his year-to-date gain to $2.13 billion, or about 21 per cent. The surge was largely fueled by strong performance in BUA Foods Plc and cement-related equities on the Nigerian Exchange.
Rabiu, popularly referred to in business circles as “Mr. Talk and Do” for his execution-driven leadership style, is the founder and chairman of BUA Group, a diversified conglomerate with interests spanning cement, food processing, infrastructure, and manufacturing.
His cement flagship, BUA Cement Plc, is Nigeria’s second-largest cement producer and reported revenue of N876 billion (approximately $602 million) in 2024. Financial disclosures indicate that Rabiu owns about 98 per cent of the cement company, held directly and through three other entities, making it the single largest contributor to his wealth amid rising infrastructure spending and production capacity expansion.
In the fast-moving consumer goods segment, Rabiu controls a 93 per cent stake in BUA Foods, the country’s second-largest pasta producer, further strengthening his dominance in Nigeria’s food staples market.
Wealth estimates do not fully capture several privately held businesses within the BUA Group due to limited public disclosures. Bloomberg’s calculations also account for liabilities, insider transactions, taxes, acquisition costs, market performance, and philanthropic activities, resulting in a conservative assessment of his net worth.
In December 2025, Rabiu reinforced his reputation for corporate philanthropy by distributing approximately $20.7 million in cash rewards to long-serving employees of BUA Group. The payouts were announced at the BUA Night of Excellence Long Service Awards held at Eko Hotel & Suites, marking one of the largest employee reward programmes ever undertaken by a privately held Nigerian company.
The group is also undergoing a generational leadership transition. In 2026, BUA Foods appointed Isyaku Abdulsamad Rabiu, popularly known as Khalifa Rabiu, as Chief Officer, Global Procurement and Strategic Operations, effective January 29, 2026, as the company accelerates expansion across sugar, flour, rice, and edible oils.
Born in 1960 in Kano, Rabiu hails from a prominent business family. His late father, Isyaku Rabiu, founded Isyaku Rabiu & Sons with interests in manufacturing, finance, and real estate. After studying Economics at Capital University in the United States, Rabiu returned to Nigeria at age 24 to help manage the family enterprise.
He established BUA Group in 1988, initially focusing on food, iron, and steel imports before pivoting into large-scale manufacturing through strategic mergers and acquisitions, including the 2009 takeover of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria. The listings of BUA Cement in January 2020 and BUA Foods in January 2022 have since cemented Rabiu’s status as one of Africa’s wealthiest industrialists.
