Nigerian billionaire Abdul Samad Rabiu makes showstopping leap on Bloomberg’s world billionaires list

Founder of BUA Group, one of Africa’s industrial conglomerates, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has secured the 282^nd position on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index with a net worth of more than $7.63B. His surge in wealth can be linked to the increasing valuations of his publicly listed businesses, BUA Cement and BUA Foods, all of which are under BUA Group, according to Billionaires Africa.

Forbes on the other hand, has rated the Nigerian entrepreneur as the 249^th wealthiest person in the world, with a net value of over $8 billion.

In their evaluations, Bloomberg values privately held businesses or groups by making comparisons of business value-to-pretax earnings or price-to-earnings ratio of similar public companies, or by using similar transactions.

Forbes integrates revenue or profit estimates alongside prevailing price-to-sales, price-to-earnings, or similar ratios for similar public companies, while applying a 10% liquidity discount for private businesses. Billionaires Africa explains this as the cause of disparities in the ratings of the two organizations.

In Africa, Rabiu is ranked as the number 3 richest billionaire on the continent, taking the place of Egypt’s wealthiest man Nassef Sawiris, according to The Ghana Report.

Rabiu established his company, BUA International Limited, in 1988 with the intent of going into commodity trading. The business initially imported rice, edible oil, flour, iron, and steel. After some years, BUA gained Nigerian Oil Mills Limited, the largest edible oil processing enterprise. He also launched two flour-milling plants in 2005.

Rabiu commissioned the second-largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa in 2008, breaking the eight-year monopoly in the Nigerian sugar industry. Years later, the company went on to build a $900 million cement plant in Edo State in 2009, which was completed by 2015.

In the name of BUA Foundation, Rabiu built a 7,000-square-meter pediatric ward at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, as well as a Center for Islamic Studies at Bayero University also in Kano, among others.

The 62-year-old was conferred the Nigerian national honor of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022.

Abdul Samad Rabiu continues to climb up in status. His feats reinforce the notion that the African continent is truly capable of making it in the global field of business.