Abdul Samad Rabiu
Abdul Samad Isyaku Rabiu is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist., he is one of the richest Nigerians with an estimated net worth of $7.6 billion according to Forbes. His late father, Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu, was one of Nigeria's foremost industrialists in the 1970s and 1980s. Abdul Samad is the founder and chairman of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate concentrating on manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture and producing a revenue in excess of $2.5 billion. He was also the chairman of the Nigerian Bank of Industry.
On 7 July 2020, Forbes estimated Rabiu's wealth at $3.2 billion, putting him 716th in the global billionaire's club.
Early life
Abdul Samad Rabiu was born and raised in Kano in the north-western part of Nigeria and is a Hausa man. He visited Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, US and later returned to Nigeria to oversee the family business. This was when his father Isyaku Rabiu was being detained by the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly not paying rice import duties.Business
Abdul Samad Rabiu established BUA International Limited in 1988 for the sole purpose of commodity trading. The company imported rice, edible oil, flour, and iron and steel.In 1990, the government, which owned Delta Steel Company, contracted with BUA to supply its raw materials in exchange for finished products. This provided a much-needed windfall for the young company. BUA expanded further into steel, producing billets, importing iron ore, and constructing multiple rolling mills in Nigeria.
Years later, BUA acquired Nigerian Oil Mills Limited, the largest edible oil processing company in Nigeria. In 2005 BUA started two flour-milling plants, in Lagos and in Kano. By 2008, BUA had broken an eight-year monopoly 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.