Name: Isyaku Rabiu Abdul Samad

Net Worth: 7.6 billion dollars (forbes 2023)
Forbes billionaire list position: 350th
Forbes’ List of African Billionaires 5th (2022)

Age: 62

Sources of wealth: Cement, sugar

Origin: Nigerian

About

Abdul Samad Isyaku Rabiu is a business magnate and generous Philanthropist from Nigeria.
Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu, his father, was a major businessman in Nigeria in the ’70s and ’80s.

Abdul Samad started and now heads BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate with over $2.5 billion in annual sales from its industrial, infrastructure, and agricultural operations. In addition to leading the Nigerian Bank of Industry, he also serves as its chairman (BOI).

On 7 July 2020, Forbes reported that Rabiu was the 716th wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion.

As of January 2022, he was reportedly Nigeria’s number two wealthiest individual.
With a reported net worth of $6.7 billion in April 2022, he was ranked as Africa’s fifth-wealthiest individual at the time.

Early Life

Abdul Samad Rabiu grew up in the city of Kano, located in the northwest of Nigeria. After graduating from Ohio’s Capital University at the age of 24, he headed back to Nigeria to take over the family company.

His dad, Isyaku Rabiu, was arrested by General Muhammadu Buhari’s government for allegedly failing to pay rice import charges.

Business

Abdulsamad Rabi’u, the head of BUA, has established himself as a respected member of Nigeria’s extreme minority of billionaires.

His company has seen phenomenal growth and expansion over the whole African continent and beyond. His business and his name are now recognized across Nigeria. The success of the firms in the BUA has far-reaching impacts.

With commodities trading as its only focus, Abdul Samiu Rabiu founded BUA International Limited in 1988. Rice, edible oil, wheat, and iron and steel were among the goods imported by the firm.

The government, which at the time controlled Delta Steel Company, signed a deal with BUA to provide raw materials in return for completed goods in the year 1990. For such a new business, this was a welcome windfall.

BUA grew its steel business by starting its own rolling mills in Nigeria, importing iron ore, and manufacturing billets.

After many years, BUA purchased Nigerian Oil Mills Limited, the country’s preeminent producer of edible oils. BUA established two flour milling facilities in Lagos and Kano in 2005.

With the opening of the second-largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa in 2008, BUA ended a monopoly that had lasted eight years in Nigeria’s sugar business.

In 2009, it moved on to purchase a majority share in a Northern Nigerian cement manufacturing firm, and in 2011, it started building a $900 million cement facility in Edo State, which it finally finished in early 2015.

Awards

In October 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria awarded him the title of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), Nigeria’s highest civilian honor.

Philanthropy

Abdul Samad Rabiu channels his charitable giving via the BUA Foundation.
Among these are the expansion of the paediatric ward at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital by seven thousand square meters and the building of the Centre for Islamic Studies at Bayero University Kano.

So many people’s lives have been transformed by his easy, unmatched generosity, and he continues to reach out to regular folks with the same ease.

The sheer scale of Abdulsamad’s charitable efforts, both personally and on behalf of the BUA foundation, is overwhelming.

That topic merits a full book of its own. The Abdul Samad Rabiu (ASR) Initiative is one such organization; it invests a whopping $100 million in health, education, and social development projects throughout Africa.

You won’t find many people as generous as Abdulsamad who are also as down-to-earth and kind as he is. To be fair, however, his other siblings are just as modest. You won’t catch them bragging about how superior they are to others or looking down on others. Because of the respect with which he respects others, he is approachable. Although Abdulsamad’s mix of riches, charity, and humility is unusual, it describes him well.

Personal Family

Isyaku Rabiu, Junaid Rabiu, Rukaiya Rania Rabiu, and Khadijah Rabiu are Abdul Samad’s children from his marriage. Among his 42 siblings are IRS Airlines’ current chairman, Rabiu Rabiu, and his cousin, Nafiu Rabiu.