The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Abdulsamad Rabiu

  • Abdulsamad Rabiu moves for 9Mobile

    Abdulsamad Rabiu moves for 9Mobile

    An empire, business or political, begins with a dream. And it will remain a dream until a man willing to go further, dig deeper and try harder comes along. Such men, like Abdulsamad Rabiu, can transform an inherited expanse of land into a global conglomerate worth billions of dollars.

    Not only has his BUA Group become a gigantic enterprise in 29 years, it has also catapulted him into the rarefied air of the world’s few dollar billionaires. And if the Kano-born self-made billionaire gets his wish, then very soon, 9Mobile, formerly Etisalat, will join Globacom as two of the biggest telecommunication companies in the country owned by Nigerians.

    It is no news that 9Mobile’s former owners, Etisalat, have bolted from the company and turned it over to creditors following huge debts, leading to the rebranding of the country’s fourth largest telecoms network. The consortium of banks now in charge have invited bids from those willing to acquire the company and has appointed advisers headed by Citibank of New York and South Africa’s Standard Bank to scrutinise the bids.

    Abdulsamad Rabiu’s BUA Group has indicated interest in acquiring the consortium’s stake in 9Mobile. But he faces stiff competition from the likes of Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile and South Africa telecoms operator, Vodacom.

  • Abdulsamad Rabiu’s Midas touch

    In a clime where material success is treated as the be all and the end all, BUA Group boss Abdulsamad Rabiu would be forgiven for flaunting his deep pocket like most of his peers do. But that is not the way of the Kano-born dude.

    At barely 24 years of age, he took on the task of transforming the fortunes of his father’s ailing business and built it into the formidable BUA Group of today. While his father, the renowned businessman Isyaku Rabiu, was cooling his heels in detention on the orders of the military government of the time, young Abdulsamad picked up the gauntlet and steered the company with uncommon dexterity into safety and profitability.

    The Nigerian conglomerate has interests in sugar refining, cement production, real estate, steel, port concession, manufacturing, oil and gas, and shipping. With an annual turnover of $2 billion, BUA Group is one of the biggest names in the Nigerian business environment.

  • Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu bury the hatchet

    Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu bury the hatchet

    The strength of friendship is not determined by how close people are when the going is good. The depth of it does not also depend on how long they have known each other. When quarrels ensue and pride intervenes, when comradeship goes missing and trust threatens to disappear, that is when we get the true measure of a friendship.

    Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote and his equally wealthy friend Abdulsamad Rabiu have both passed the test in flying colours. Dangote, the famous billionaire, and Rabiu, the silent billionaire, have been friends for years. And over the years, the two northerners have crossed the threshold of normal friendship to become true comrades in soul and spirit. But for a while, rancour and bitterness ensued from some conflicts of interest, leading many to speculate that they had gone their separate ways.

    But like life itself, solid friendship is full of surprises. While supporters of the Chairman of BUA Group and Dangote were fighting themselves in defence of their idols, the two men at the centre of it had apparently reconciled in private, realising that nothing is as precious as friends that are closer than brothers. It was not until the birthday gig held by Femi Otedola in honour of Dangote’s 60th birthday that it became clear to the public that Rabiu and Aliko had mended fences.

    Kano-born Rabiu strolled into the occasion and chatted excitedly with the celebrant. They even took pictures together, leaving their mutual friends who had expected a standoff with pleasant surprise. In the time they spent together, the two men were like brother-birds making up for lost time.

  • Price of cement may go up if… – Manufacturers

    Price of cement may go up if… – Manufacturers

    Cement manufacturers have warned that if the Naira is further devalued, the price of cement will be increased further.
    Cement manufacturers need a substantial amount of forex to pay expatriates, buy diesel, fuel, spare parts and mining machinery. It has also been disclosed that it is easier to import gypsum than to use local gypsum because of the poor quality and high price of local gypsum.

    Addressing shareholders at the 37th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) in Abuja yesterday, the chairman of the company Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu said “times are tough and difficult, and the availability of forex is a big problem. If the Naira devalues further, the cost of anything that is imported will go up. Hanging in there to remain in business.”

    Defending the recent increase in the price of cement to N2,000, Abdulsamad Rabiu said CCNN will continue with production and make a little bit of money even if it is not much, to keep running. He told shareholders that a competitor has posted N30 billion loss for this year.

    Abdulsamad Rabiu tied the increase in the price of cement to what he called “the cost of energy doubling.” Describing the current economic environment as dire, Abdulsamad Rabiu said the cost of procuring LPFO, diesel, fuel etc, have gone up because of the difficulty in accessing forex.

    According to him, “the situation is dire, but going forward we pray it gets better. Forex now is for oil production. The price of oil that has come down is also affecting forex and without forex it is not easy to do business. CCNN will continue to do its best, shareholders should be patient as the company is making efforts to access coal which is cheaper. The price of cement has not gone up as it should have been. It could have been worse at N2,000/bag. The price of cement in Nigeria compared to surrounding countries is reasonable.”

    The CCNN chairman revealed that “LPFO which is the main energy used by the company has not been supplied by the Kaduna refinery since August 2014, hence it has to rely on other sources, mostly importers as supply from other refineries was also epileptic. The company had to, at intermittent periods during the last quarter of 2015, shut down the plant due to scarcity and cost of energy.”

    He also disclosed that “there is quite a lot of talk on providing forex for manufacturers and assisting them with forex involving the CBN. But we are waiting for modalities on the planned initiative to make forex easily accessible to manufacturers, a lot of manufacturers are suffering and it is not an easy situation at all,” he said.

    During the year, the company recorded a turnover of N13,037,847,294 compared to N15,119,050,874 in 2014. The profit after tax was N1,201,108,049 compared to N1,918,361,854 in 2014. Weak demand for cement particularly in the second half of the year, mainly contributed to the low turnover and lower profits compared to 2014.

    The board approved the payment of a gross dividend of 10k per share, compared to last year’s 35k per share.