Billionaire Watch
The Zero to Hero Story of Abdulsamad Rabiu
Rabiu Isyaku Abdulsamad is the head honcho of BUA Group, a business conglomerate with wide influence in Nigeria’s economic and business sector
Kano-born Rabiu Isyaku Abdulsamad is the head honcho of BUA Group, a business conglomerate with wide influence in Nigeria’s economic and business sector, with a special interest in sugar, cement, ports, real estate, agricultural produce, oil and mill, import rice, edible oil, flour, and iron and steel products.
For every student looking to bag a degree in business-related courses, his persistence, tenacity, uprightness, business strategy and lifestyle should be used as a case study and point of reference.
Abdulsamad was born under the proverbial lucky star; he rose from nothing to become something through sheer dint of hard work laced with doggedness.
Highly blessed with the Midas touch in business, Rabiu connotes the proverbial cat with nine lives. Despite being caught up in the country’s dwindling business climate with a hard typhoon and tsunami directed at him, he was able to weather the storm and retain his spot in the business.
Following the footstep of his industrious late father, Alhaji Khalifah Rabiu, a top Northern industrialist in the 1970s and 1980s, he drove his company to great fortune. Due to his wide knowledge of finance, business, and corporate governance, he was appointed the Chairman of the Nigerian Bank of Industry(BOI).
(READ MORE: BUA Group partners AFRICA CEO FORUM for its 2020 edition)
Abdul Samad Rabiu’s career in business can be dated back to when he established BUA International Limited in 1988 for the sole purpose of commodity trading. BUA Group, a conglomerate concentrating on manufacturing, infrastructure, and agriculture and producing revenue in excess of $2.5 billion annually.
His major business breakthrough came in 1990, when government-owned Delta Steel Company, contracted (BUA) to supply its raw materials in exchange for finished iron products. Later that year, BUA through Rabiu, expanded further into steel, producing billets, importing iron ore, and constructing multiple rolling mills in Nigeria.
To flourish in the business terrain, especially in Nigeria, you must have the heart of Hercules, the fearlessness of Achilles, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of Macaulay, and the hide of a rhinoceros.
After enjoying a successful take-off in business, Rabiu took an audacious business decision by acquiring Nigerian Oil Mills Limited, the largest edible oil processing company in the country. Fast forward to 2005, BUA started two flour-milling plants in Lagos and Kano. By 2008, BUA had broken an eight-year monopoly dominated by rival Dangote in the Nigerian sugar industry by commissioning the second largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2009, the company went on to acquire a controlling stake in a publicly-listed Cement Company in Northern Nigeria and began to construct a $900 million cement plant in Edo State, completing it in early 2015. He also has a stake in BUA Oil and Mill, BUA Estate, BUA Sugar, BUA Port, and terminal and BUA cement.
In early January 2020, Rabiu merged his privately-owned Obu Cement company with listed firm Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria as the company trades on the Nigerian stock exchange with Rabiu owning a 98.5% stake.
(READ MORE: NPA reacts to BUA Group’s accusation on port terminal shutdown)
After tenaciously trudging through that tough trial, fortune favored him again and by 2013, he was back on his feet and once more on the Forbes rich list in 2013 with a wealth estimated to be $1.2 billion.
As the new year 2020 sauntered in, Abdulsamad also found his way into the Forbes List as one of the Richest Nigerians in Africa with a net worth of $3.1Billion.
He is a philanthropist per excellence; through his BUA Foundation, he supervised the construction of a 7,000-square-meter pediatric ward he donated at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. He also constructed the Centre for Islamic Studies at Bayero University Kano amongst several other kind gestures.
Article written by Oladapo Sofowora
Billionaire Watch
Dangote, Rabiu, Adenuga make top 10 on Forbes’ Africa billionaires list
Nigerian billionaire entrepreneurs; Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga and Abdul Samad Rabiu appear in the top spots of Forbes’ Africa billionaires list.
Nigerians and South Africans dominate the top 10 spot on Forbes’ Africa billionaires list, which is an annual ranking of the richest Africans compiled and published by American business magazine, Forbes.
The 10 richest people in Africa according to Forbes have made their wealth sources including investments in diamonds, telecom, cement, sugar, media and mining amongst others. In total, they have a combined net of $59.8 billion.
The top 10 list doesn’t include a woman and is dominated by four South Africans and three Nigerians, with notable names like Aliko Dangote, Nicky Oppenheimer, Johann Rupert, Mike Adenuga, Abdul Samad Rabiu amongst the rest.
READ: Airbnb co-founder, Brian Chesky gains over $7 billion in just a few days
10. Koos Bekker
- Net Worth: $2.8billion
- Age: 68
- Location: South Africa
- Origin of wealth: Media and Investments
- Company: Naspers
READ: World richest man, Jeff Bezos holds 5% of his wealth in cash
According to Forbes, Koos Bekker is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher, Naspers into an eCommerce investor and cable TV powerhouse. In 2019, Naspers put some assets into two publicly-traded companies, MultiChoice Group and Prosus which contain the Tencent stake.
9. Patrice Motsepe
- Net Worth: $3billion
- Age: 58
- Location: South Africa
- Origin of wealth: Mining
- Company: African Rainbow Materials
READ: Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, worth $104 billion keeps $2.3 billion in cash
Patrice Motsepe, the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, became a billionaire in 2008 – the first black African on the Forbes list. In 2016, he launched a new private equity firm, African Rainbow Capital, focused on investing in Africa.
8. Naguib Sawiris
- Net Worth: $3.2billion
- Age: 66
- Location: Egypt
- Origin of wealth: Telecom
- Company: Orascom Telecom Holding
Naguib Sawiris is a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His brother Nassef is also a billionaire. He built a fortune in telecom, selling Orascom Telecom in 2011 to Russian telecom firm, VimpelCom (now Veon) in a multibillion-dollar transaction.
READ: Many millionaires plan to buy Crypto before 2022
7. Isaad Rebrab
- Net Worth: $3.2billion
- Age: 76
- Location: Algeria
- Origin of wealth: Food
- Company: Cevital Industrial Group
Issad Rebrab is the founder and CEO of Cevital, Algeria’s biggest privately-held company. Cevital owns one of the largest sugar refineries in the world, with the capacity to produce 2 million tons a year. Cevital owns European companies, including French home appliances maker Groupe Brandt, an Italian steel mill and a German water purification company.
READ: Netflix gains 17% after beating investors expectation
6. Abdul Samad Rabiu
- Net Worth: $5.5billion
- Age: 60
- Location: Nigeria
- Origin of wealth: Cement, Sugar
- Company: BUA Group
Abdulsamad Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate active in cement production, sugar refining and real estate. In early January 2020, Rabiu merged his privately-owned Obu Cement company with listed firm Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled. The combined firm, called BUA Cement Plc, trades on the Nigerian stock exchange; Rabiu owns 98.5% of it. Rabiu, the son of a businessman, inherited land from his father. He set up his own business in 1988 importing iron, steel and chemicals.
5. Mike Adenuga
- Net worth: $6.3billion
- Age: 67
- Location: Nigeria
- Origin of wealth: Telecom, Oil
- Company: Globacom
Mike Adenuga, Nigeria’s second richest man, built his fortune in telecom and oil production. His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the third-largest operator in Nigeria, with 55 million subscribers. His oil exploration outfit, Conoil, operates 6 oil blocks in the Niger-Delta.
4. Johann Rupert
- Net Worth: $7.2billion
- Age: 70
- Location: South Africa
- Origin of wealth: Luxury goods
- Company: Compagnie Financiere Richemont
Johann Rupert is chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm, Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc. It was formed in 1998 through a spinoff of assets owned by Rembrandt Group Limited (now Remgro Limited), which his father formed in the 1940s. He owns a 7% stake in diversified investment firm Remgro, which he chairs, as well as 25% of Reinet, an investment holding co. based in Luxembourg.
3. Nicky Oppenheimer
- Net Worth: $8billion
- Age: 75
- Location: South Africa
- Origin of wealth: Diamonds
- Company: De Beers Group
Nicky Oppenheimer, the heir to his family’s fortune, sold his 40% stake in diamond firm, DeBeers to mining group, Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash in 2012. He is the third generation of his family to run DeBeers, and took the company private in 2001. For 85 years until 2012, the Oppenheimer family occupied a controlling spot in the world’s diamond trade.
2. Nassef Sawiris
- Net Worth: $8.5billion
- Age: 60
- Location: Egypt
- Origin of wealth: Constructions, Investments
- Company: Orascom Construction
Nassef Sawiris is an investor and a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His most valuable asset is a nearly 6% stake in sportswear maker Adidas. In December 2020, he acquired a 5% stake in New York-listed firm Madison Square Garden Sports, owner of the NBA Knicks and the NHL Rangers teams. He runs OCI, one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, with plants in Texas and Iowa; it trades on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange.
1. Aliko Dangote
- Net Worth: $12.1billion
- Age: 63
- Location: Nigeria
- Origin of wealth: Cement, Sugar
- Company: Dangote Group
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. He owns 85% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company. Dangote Cement produces 45.6 million metric tons annually and has operations in 10 countries across Africa. Dangote also owns stakes in publicly-traded salt and sugar manufacturing companies. Dangote Refinery has been under construction since 2016 and is expected to be one of the world’s largest oil refineries once complete.
Billionaire Watch
Top 5 billionaires lost $8 billion in a day
The top 5 billionaires, as a group did not do well at the last trading session of the week amid an era showing the U.S dollar rebounded.
The top 5 billionaires on planet earth had an unimpressive showing at the most recent trading session.
The top 5 billionaires most recent daily loss stood at $7.754 billion
Elon Musk
The world’s richest person printed the highest wealth loss for the day as Elon’s wealth dropped by $4.28 billion. His wealth is now estimated to be worth $197 billion.
Tesla suffered significant losses at Friday’s trading session, on recent reports revealing its Model 3 is now only the fourth-best selling pure electric vehicle (EV) in Europe.
READ: Elon Musk’s wealth jumps in 2021, more than top 5 billionaires combined
Investors got alarmed that Tesla got outpaced by Renault and Volkswagen in an important car market like Europe.
- Elon Musk, who a few weeks ago, surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person, is now the first person in modern history to ever surpass a wealth valuation of over $200 billion.
- However, for the long term, Stock experts anticipate that a Democratic-controlled U.S Senate is bullish for Tesla, on the bias that there would be more pro-renewable investments, at least for the next few years.
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos, the current CEO, and founder of Amazon is presently valued at about $182 billion, printing a wealth drop of $1.26 billion for the day.
- Investors went short on the trillion-dollar valued company at its most recent trading session, taking into consideration that the tech company had become too powerful, particularly when Amazon dropped Parler, a social network that gained President Trump’s die-hard supporters after Twitter suspended his account.
READ: 5 habits of Nigeria’s business billionaires you should emulate
Bill Gates
In the third position is another popular tech genius, Bill Gates, the founder of the most valuable software company, Microsoft.
For many years, Gates had been the world’s richest man. He now has a wealth fortune of $132 billion, as recent data revealed it dropped by $814 million for the day.
READ: World richest man, Jeff Bezos holds 5% of his wealth in cash
Bernard Arnault
Europe’s top entrepreneur and French celebrated fashion icon, Bernard Arnault, is fourth on the list with a fortune now estimated to be around $109 billion, with its most recent drop by $3.55 billion.
- He is the only billionaire on the top 5 that isn’t from the tech ecosystem.
- Most of his wealth comes from his controlling stake of LVMH, controlled through his holding known as Christian Dior.
READ: Billionaires worth over $100 billion made $270 billion in 2020
Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg is fifth on the list, with a fortune estimated to now be valued at $95 billion, on the account, he was the only billionaire in the top 5 list that had a wealth gain for the day.
- His most recent wealth daily gain stood at $2.15 billion amid an era of reports revealing global investors are weighing significantly on Facebook amid antitrust and privacy concerns.
READ: Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, worth $104 billion keeps $2.3 billion in cash
Bottom line
The top 5 billionaires, as a group, infamously did not do well at the last trading session of the week amid an era showing the U.S dollar rebounded strongly.
Growing concerns that the leading global technology brands have grown too powerful has led some investors to trim their bullish bets cumulatively on the top 5 billionaires’ businesses.
Billionaire Watch
Elon Musk’s wealth jumps in 2021, more than top 5 billionaires combined
Elon Musk has made more gains in 2021 than Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Bernard Arnault, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffet combined.
Stock holdings of Tesla recorded impressive gains on the NASDAQ and it is looking good for Tesla Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, whose fortune has gained $31.6 billion in 2021 alone.
What you should know
Elon Musk, now worth $201 billion, has made more gains in 2021 than Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Bernard Arnault, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffet combined.
READ: Nigeria’s GDP growth to rebound between 1.7% and 2.0% in 2021 – United Capital report
- This takes to account that Jeff Bezos is down by $6.86 billion, Bill Gates’s wealth has grown by only about $712 million, and Bernard Arnault – a french-born billionaire’s wealth is down by $2.25 billion in 2021.
- Facebook’s Founder, Mark Zuckerberg has lost about $10 billion in value this year alone, as investors have reduced their stake in Facebook on privacy concerns and Warren Buffet printed a wealth gain of $1.25 billion.
- Elon Musk, who a few weeks ago, surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person, is now the first person in modern history to ever surpass a wealth valuation of over $200 billion.
READ: Why You Should Not Invest Like Warren Buffet
Specifically, the world’s celebrated engineer and philanthropist had led the revolution of electric cars which is showing great potential to replace fossil-based combustion engine-driven vehicles.
- Electric-car maker, Tesla Inc’s share settled at $845 after the close of its most recent trading session.
- Now worth $801 billion, Tesla has increased the concentration of heavyweight companies within the S&P 500.
READ: Tips that will help you win in business – Amazon Founder
Today, Tesla builds not only all-electric vehicles, but also infinitely scalable clean energy generation and storage products. Tesla believes that the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better.
Musk’s wealth gain is largely attributed to Tesla, the electric car automaker, which has gained about 700% in 2020 and has become by far the world’s most valuable automaker in the world, despite producing far less than Volkswagen, Toyota, or General Motors.
READ: Tesla’s market value bigger than any African country
What to expect
Stock experts anticipate that a Democratic-controlled U.S Senate is bullish for Tesla, on the bias that there would be more pro-renewable investments, at least for the next few years.
Tesla has gained more than 23,900% since its 2010 initial public offering, including a 5-for-1 stock split in 2020.
Clement Oladejo
March 12, 2020 at 9:24 pm
Nice and detailed write up.
Thanks