Forbes Ranking: BUA Founder Abdulsamad Rabiu Becomes Africa’s Biggest Wealth Gainer
- Abdulsamad Rabiu recorded the largest wealth increase among Africa’s billionaires over the past year, as his wealth soared due to massive business growth
- His net worth rose by about $6.1 billion, reaching an estimated $11.2 billion, and pushed him to third place among Africa’s richest individuals from sixth position
- Rabiu controls major stakes in both BUA Cement and BUA Foods, and Forbes attributed his wealth growth largely to a rise in BUA Cement’s share value
Oluwatobi Odeyinka is a business editor at Legit.ng, covering energy, the money market, technology and macroeconomic trends in Nigeria.
Nigerian industrialist Abdulsamad Rabiu has recorded the largest increase in wealth among Africa’s billionaires after his net worth climbed sharply over the past year, The Cable reported.
Source: Twitter
According to the latest billionaire ranking released by Forbes on Monday, the founder and chairman of BUA Group saw his fortune grow by about $6.1 billion, representing a rise of roughly 120 percent.
Rabiu moves to third position
The increase pushed Rabiu’s estimated net worth to $11.2 billion, moving him up to third position among Africa’s richest individuals from sixth place in the previous ranking.
Forbes noted that Rabiu was valued at about $5.1 billion in April 2025 before the latest surge in his wealth.
The publication attributed much of the growth to the strong performance of BUA Cement, whose shares gained around 135% over the past year.
According to Forbes, Rabiu holds about 98.2% of the cement company, which trades on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
He also controls roughly 95% of BUA Foods, a publicly listed food manufacturing company.
Rabiu's swelling investments
Rabiu built his business empire through investments in industries such as cement production, sugar refining, and other large-scale manufacturing ventures.
With the latest increase in wealth, he now ranks behind South African luxury goods entrepreneur Johann Rupert and Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote, who remains the richest individual on the continent.
Forbes also highlighted that Rabiu’s net worth has experienced notable fluctuations in recent years.
His fortune rose from about $4.9 billion in 2021 to $6.9 billion in 2022 and later reached $8.2 billion in 2023.
However, his wealth declined to $5.2 billion in 2024 and slipped slightly to $5.1 billion in 2025 before rebounding strongly in the latest ranking.
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BUA Cement signs new deal with Chinese company
Legit.ng earlier reported that BUA Cement Plc recently signed an agreement with China-based engineering firm CBMI to build a new 3-million-metric-ton-per-annum cement production line at its Sokoto plant, in a move aimed at expanding capacity and improving cement supply across Northern Nigeria.
The $240 million investment will cover the construction of cement line six, a dedicated power plant and other supporting infrastructure. When completed, the expansion will raise BUA Cement’s total installed production capacity to 20 million metric tons per year.
BUA Cement said the Sokoto plant remains strategically important as the only cement production facility in Nigeria’s North-West zone.
Source: Legit.ng
