Nigerian billionaire and leading industrialist Abdul Samad Rabiu has seen his net worth drop by half a billion dollars since the first trading day of June, when shares in his flagship company BUA Cement Plc were trading at record levels.
The news comes as African billionaires like Johann Rupert and Strive Masiyiwa see their net worth plummet as a result of a recent stock market sell-off, which affects the valuation of their assets and investments.
Rabiu, one of Africa’s richest billionaires, derives the majority of his fortune from his 98-percent stake in BUA Foods and his 92-percent stake in BUA Cement Plc, one of Africa’s fastest-growing cement companies.
According to Forbes, the leading billionaire, who ranks as Nigeria’s second-richest man behind Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, has seen his net worth fall by $500 million from $7.2 billion in the first week of June to $6.7 billion at the time of writing this report.
The half-billion-dollar decrease in his net worth over the past 29 days can be attributed to a drop in the share price of not only his cement company BUA Cement, but also his newly consolidated food company, which was listed on the Nigerian Exchange in January.
Data tracked by Billionaires.Africa revealed that the stock prices of BUA Cement and BUA Foods have fallen from N74.35 ($0.179) and N59.7 ($0.144), respectively, at the start of this month to N71.9 ($0.173) and N55 ($0.132) at the time of writing this report.
The decline in the companies’ stock prices can be attributed to a recent sell-off of shares on the Nigerian Exchange, as investors on the bourse reduced their stakes in risky assets in a move to preserve wealth and channel funds into investments with a proven track record of real return.
Despite the recent drop in his net worth, Rabiu has surpassed telecom magnate Mike Adenuga to become Nigeria’s second-richest man, nearly five months after listing his food business on the Nigerian Exchange — a move that saw his net worth surge to more than $7 billion.
