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Abdul Samad Rabiu, the largest shareholder and chairman of Nigeria’s second-largest publicly listed manufacturing company, BUA Cement Plc, has announced a share-bonus of N2 billion ($4.9 million) for the company’s employees.
His office reported Rabiu as stating that it is essential to recognize staff who worked tirelessly during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep the company up and running.
“As we head into another year of record profits, this share bonus for our employees is only the right thing to do,” Rabiu said. “By doing so, our core employees are better-placed to benefit from BUA Cement’s future successes, which they continue to help deliver.”
Rabiu is donating the shares from his own stake to acknowledge workers who kept BUA Cement profitable despite the challenging 2020 year.
Irrespective of the difficulties caused by the pandemic, BUA Cement remained one of the most profitable companies in Nigeria, declaring profits after tax of N72.3 billion ($176 million), a 19.4-percent increase over the corresponding period in 2019.
Rabiu’s conglomerate, BUA Group, made the announcement in a statement and released details in a filing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
BUA Cement declared a 19.3-percent increase in revenues to N209.4 billion ($509.5 million) in 2020 from N175.5 billion ($427 million) as of 2019 despite the economic fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic year.
Rabiu, the sixth wealthiest man in Africa and Nigeria’s third richest, is beginning to make waves in the country and across Africa through his philanthropic works at the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative Africa (ASRi). The ASRi is disbursing $100-million grants in Nigeria and other African countries.
Just days ago, on the sidelines of the Choose France Summit in Versailles, France, on June 28, Rabiu was appointed president of the newly inaugurated France-Nigeria Business Council. The council is a private-sector initiative established to enhance business relations between Nigeria and France.
