Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder and chairman of BUA Group, has overtaken South African billionaire Johann Rupert to become Africa\u2019s second-richest individual, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A report by TheCable, citing Bloomberg data, stated that Rabiu\u2019s net worth rose to $18.6 billion, placing him 138th on the global wealth rankings and representing a year-to-date increase of approximately $8.47 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report attributed the sharp increase in wealth to stronger market valuations across Rabiu\u2019s industrial holdings, particularly in the cement, food and manufacturing sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rabiu\u2019s fortune had recently been estimated at about $15.9 billion, underscoring the pace of growth recorded in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Johann Rupert\u2019s net worth declined to $17.9 billion after he reportedly lost about $1.76 billion this year, pushing the South African businessman to 153rd position globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest figures showed Rabiu as Africa\u2019s strongest-performing billionaire so far in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ranking leaves Rabiu behind only Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote, who retained his position as Africa\u2019s richest individual with an estimated net worth of $34.4 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bloomberg data showed that Dangote ranked 66th globally after adding about $4.38 billion to his fortune this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TheCable further reported that no other Nigerian billionaire appeared on Bloomberg\u2019s global top 500 wealth rankings as of May 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike Adenuga, founder of telecommunications company Globacom, whose net worth was estimated at $6.5 billion, and Femi Otedola, chairman of Geregu Power Plc, with an estimated fortune of $1.3 billion, were absent from the latest list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Otedola had earlier divested his majority stake in Geregu Power Plc in a transaction valued at N1.088 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal was reportedly financed by a consortium of banks led by Zenith Bank Plc in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March, Forbes magazine also identified Rabiu as the biggest gainer among Africa\u2019s billionaires after his wealth increased significantly over the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Forbes, Rabiu\u2019s fortune rose by about 120 per cent, or $6.1 billion, to $11.2 billion, moving him from sixth to third position on the continent\u2019s rich list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder and chairman of BUA Group, has overtaken South African billionaire Johann Rupert to become Africa\u2019s second-richest individual, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI). A report by TheCable, citing Bloomberg data, stated that Rabiu\u2019s net worth rose to $18.6 billion, placing him 138th on the global wealth rankings and representing a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,21,2,41],"tags":[135,148,149,134],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-economy","category-lead-story","category-news","category-personal-finance","tag-africa","tag-bloomberg","tag-bua","tag-nigeria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/61"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}