According to U.S. business magazine Forbes, Abdul Samad 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 the total valuation of his stakes in listed companies rise above $7 billion.
According to Forbes, Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group, one of Africa’s fastest-growing industrial and manufacturing conglomerates, has now become the second-richest man in Nigeria, trailing only Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, thanks to his stake in his newly consolidated food company BUA Foods, which operates as one of BUA Group’s operating subsidiaries.
Rabiu, who derives the majority of his fortune from BUA Foods and a 92-percent stake in BUA Cement Plc, is now Africa’s fifth-richest businessman, with a net worth of $7 billion, while Adenuga has lost more than $200 million in wealth since the start of the year and is now worth $6.7 billion.
Earlier this year, BUA Foods listed a total of 18 billion ordinary shares on the Nigerian Exchange after it received the requisite approval from the regulatory authorities.
BUA Foods’ market capitalization has increased from an implied valuation of N720 million ($1.74 billion) on Jan. 5 to N1.07 trillion at the time of writing this report, pushing Rabiu’s net worth above $7 billion.
The tycoon is on track to receive N62.88 billion ($151.66 million) in dividends from his stake in the consolidated foods business, as well as N86.5 billion ($208 million) from his stake in BUA Cement after the cement company posted its highest-ever profit at the end of 2021.
Since April, 28, the market value of the billionaire’s stake in BUA Cement has increased by half a billion dollars, as shares in the Nigerian cement maker have returned to all-time highs.
