Abdul Samad Isyaku Rabiu (; born 4 August 1960) is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. , he is the second richest man in Nigeria. 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 is also the chairman of the Nigerian Bank of Industry (BOI). On 7 July 2020, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' estimated Rabiu's wealth at $3.2 billion, putting him 716th in the global billionaire's club. In January 2022, he was reported to be the second richest man in Nigeria. In April 2022 he was reported to be the fifth-richest man in Africa, with a net worth of $6.7 billion. In January 2023, Rabiu was reported to have become the 4th richest man in Africa.

Early life

Abdul Samad Rabiu was born and raised in

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

in the north-western part of Nigeria. He visited

Capital University Capital University (Capital, Cap, or CU) is a private university in Bexley, Ohio, United States. Capital was founded as the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio, Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in 1830 and ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, 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 Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

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 In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

, importing iron ore, and constructing multiple

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simi ...

s 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 Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and in

. By 2008, BUA had broken an eight-year monopoly in the Nigerian

sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, Sugar refinery, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, about 80% of sugar is extracted from sugar cane, grown predominantly in the tropics, and 20% from sugar beet, ...

by commissioning the second largest

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or sugar extracted from beets into white refined sugar. Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it color ...

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 Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

, completing it in early 2015.

Philanthropy

Abdul Samad Rabiu uses the BUA Foundation for his philanthropic activities. These include the construction of 7,000-square-meter paediatric ward at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and the construction of the Centre for Islamic Studies at

Bayero University Kano The Bayero University Kano (BUK) is a university situated in Kano, Kano State, Nigeria. It was founded in 1975, when it was renamed from Bayero University College and upgraded from university college to university. It is the first university i ...

amongst several others.

Personal life

Samad Rabiu was married to Hannatu Musawa. He has four children. They are Khadija Cookie Rabiu, Isyaku Khalifa Rabiu, Junaid Rabiu, and Rania Rabiu. He has 42 siblings including Nafiu Rabiu and Rabiu Rabiu, the chairman of

IRS Airlines IRS Airlines Limited was an airline based in Abuja, Nigeria. It operated scheduled domestic passenger services. Its main base was Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. The airline was established in 2002 and started operations in March 2002. It ...

Award

In October 2022, a Nigerian national honor of

Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic The Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) is one of two orders of merit, established by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1963. It is senior to the Order of the Niger. The highest honours are the Grand Commander in the Order of the Federal Rep ...

(CFR) was conferred on him by President

. He also holds the Commander of the Order of the Niger national honor in Nigeria as well as the Grand Commander of the Order of Merit of Niger (GCON) Honour in Niger Republic.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu's refinery struggles to get off the ground
Africa Intelligence, 14 February 2025 (requires free registration) 1960 births Living people Nigerian billionaires Capital University alumni 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople People from Kano State Businesspeople from Kano