Nigerian billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu is ready to pocket a report N216.7 billion in dividends following resolutions handed on the fourth Annual Common Assembly of BUA Meals Plc, underlining the outsized function his holdings proceed to play in one among Africa’s most beneficial shopper items teams.
On the assembly, held Thursday at Abuja’s Transcorp Hilton Lodge, shareholders permitted a dividend payout of N13 per abnormal share for the monetary 12 months ended December 31, 2024. With Rabiu controlling roughly 16.67 billion abnormal shares within the firm, his dividend entitlement makes him the one largest beneficiary of the distribution.
The choice comes as BUA Meals and its sister firm, BUA Cement Plc, stay central pillars in Rabiu’s sprawling enterprise empire. In line with filings with the Nigerian Alternate, Rabiu’s stake positions him not solely because the group’s controlling shareholder but additionally as one of the vital influential figures in Nigeria’s shopper and industrial sectors.
Some context
The resolutions handed on the AGM went past dividend approvals. Shareholders additionally ratified the re-election of administrators Kabiru Rabiu and Chimaobi Madukwe, approved administrators to set auditors’ remuneration, and appointed 5 members three shareholder representatives and two board nominees to the statutory audit committee.
Managerial and non-executive director pay for 2025 was additionally permitted, with the corporate disclosing the attainment of 70 years by board member Finn Arnoldsen.
Maybe most notably, shareholders granted a normal mandate for recurrent related-party transactions. This permits the board to transact with entities tied to BUA’s operations on industrial phrases, a transfer that aligns with Nigerian Alternate Restricted pointers however underscores the intertwined nature of Rabiu’s company holdings.
What you must know
Earlier, Nairametrics reported that Rabiu was the highest fairness gainer on the Alternate in August, together with his share value swelling by N2.7 trillion based mostly on Nairalytics’ evaluation of inventory value actions.
The sharp rise mirrored robust investor urge for food for BUA firms, at the same time as Nigeria’s economic system wrestles with inflationary stress and a unstable foreign money market.
- The dimensions of Rabiu’s newest windfall provides to a sample. He was already amongst a choose group of Nigerian billionaires who collectively earned about N506 billion in dividends from 2022 earnings, in line with Nairametrics reviews. On the time of this publication Rabiu has a networth of $7.2 billion.
- Rabiu’s dominance of Nigeria’s cement and meals sectors stems from strategic consolidation. In January 2020, he merged his privately owned Obu Cement firm with listed agency Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria, which he already managed.
- The mixed entity, BUA Cement Plc, now trades on the Nigerian Alternate, the place Rabiu holds a 98.2% stake. He additionally owns 95% of BUA Meals.
The son of a Kano businessman, Rabiu inherited land from his father however constructed his personal fortune independently. He based his first enterprise in 1988, importing iron, metal, and chemical substances, earlier than increasing into cement, sugar, and different important sectors.
