Nigerian billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu makes $2.4-million donation to University of Maiduguri

The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASRi) has provided a $2.4-million (N1 billion) educational grant to the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) as part of its plan to boost educational infrastructure in Nigeria and across the African continent.

The grant will be aimed at speeding up the introduction of a state-of-the-art innovation and product development center at the university. According to a press release issued by Rabiu’s diversified manufacturing conglomerate BUA Group, the center will be named the Center for Innovation and Product Development for UNIMAID Entrepreneurship.

The grant comes two weeks after ASRi donated $12.23 million (N5 billion) to Akwa Ibom State. The donation was the initiative’s inaugural grant.

Last month, ASRi pledged to donate funds to four higher educational institutions in Nigeria across the country’s four geopolitical zones, including the University of Nigeria (Nsukka), UNIMAID, the University of Ilorin and the University of Benin.

Earlier, ASRi provided a $7.3-million (N3 billion) grant to two higher educational institutions in Nigeria — Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and University of Ibadan in Oyo State.

ASRi seeks to support sustainable development initiatives in health, education and social development. It launched in March, with an annual endowment of $100 million (N41.1 billion).

ASRi plans to donate $50 million (N20.55 billion) annually to Nigeria and $50 million each year (N20.55 billion) to the rest of Africa, with a broad focus on equipping core facilities, researchers, healthcare practitioners and community-level service providers in order to help them better provide sustainable solutions for future generations.

Rabiu is Africa’s sixth wealthiest man.