Abdul Rabiu

Chairman, BUA Group

Dangote should not need Visa Nigeria must stop export Abdulsamad Rabiu BUA CEO

📅 May 13, 2026 TV Platinum 9 MIN 1160 VIEWS 13 SEGMENTS · 3 SPEAKERS

What Abdul Rabiu said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Abdul Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Group, spoke at a Nairobi meeting convened by President Macron and President Ruto, attended by nearly 30 heads of government and 40 top business executives. He argued that Africa's transformation requires four foundations: capital, policy integration, continental integration, and value addition. He cited Aliko Dangote's need for visas to 38 African countries as evidence that integration is lacking. Rabiu highlighted that four West African countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon) produce 75% of global cocoa supply, a $200 billion annual industry, yet Africa retains only 10-15% of that value. He used Nigeria's cement industry as a success story: 15-20 years ago Nigeria imported 90% of its cement; today it produces over 30 million tons and is a net exporter. Rabiu also discussed the Africa House in Paris, launched the previous day, where he serves as co-chief launcher, funded by African business rather than the French government.

Key takeaways

Africa needs capital, policy integration, continental integration, and value addition to transform, with value addition being the most important.
Aliko Dangote needs visas to 38 African countries, showing the continent is not open for business.
Four West African countries produce 75% of global cocoa, a $200 billion industry, but Africa keeps only 10-15% of the value.
Nigeria went from importing 90% of its cement 15-20 years ago to producing over 30 million tons and being a net exporter today.
Rabiu is co-chief launcher of the Africa House in Paris, funded by African business, not the French government.

Numbers and commitments

Figure	What it refers to	Type	At
38	African countries Aliko Dangote needs visas for	metric	1:02
75%	Global cocoa supply from four West African countries	metric	0:00
$200 billion	Annual global cocoa industry value	metric	0:00
10-15%	Share of cocoa value Africa retains	metric	0:00
90%	Cement Nigeria imported 15-20 years ago	metric	3:20
30 million tons	Nigeria's current annual cement production	metric	3:20
30-35%	World's mineral resources located in Africa	metric	4:27
90%	African mineral resources exported in raw form	metric	4:27

Chapters

0:00Value addition and cocoa example
1:02Nairobi meeting and four foundations
3:20Nigeria's cement success story
4:27Africa's mineral resources and integration
5:22Africa House launch in Paris

Questions asked in this interview

4:07Now, what does this bring for Nigeria as a future?
5:14Okay, you also participated at a very significant event yesterday launching the Africa House. What about that?

Abdul Rabiu 0:00 ↗

Aliko Dangote was actually mentioning that he probably needs visas to target countries to go to some of the countries in Africa. So, that integration is key. We have to open up the continent. And of course, the final one which I think is probably the most important is value addition. Value addition so that all the resources that we have here in Africa will be able to add value to them. Instead of exporting everything in their raw form, we process them here, add value, and then export. If you take cocoa, for example, I keep giving this example because it's very interesting. Four countries in Africa, in fact, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon, they produce 75% of the total global supply of cocoa. This is a $200 billion annually. Yet, Africa gets only a fraction, maybe 10, probably 15% of that. So, these are the areas that we need to concentrate on.

It's actually a meeting that was convened by President Macron and President Ruto here in Nairobi. And as I'm sure you saw, over almost 30 heads of government and 40 top business executives from all over Africa. So, the theme, or the idea, is for us to come together to understand the issues, the challenges of Africa, how we can together, I mean, Europe, or France and Africa, to come together and support the challenges that we have. So, one of the issues that I actually kept mentioning during the meetings we had yesterday and this morning, is one, we need, or there are three or four foundations that are needed to transform the continent. The first thing, in my opinion, is capital, policy integration, and then, of course, value addition. Capital, we need capital to finance our ambition. And the policy, for the leaders to actually ensure that we have policies that work. And then, integration is very, very important. Aliko Dangote was actually mentioning that he probably needs visas to 38 countries to go to some of the countries in Africa. So, that integration is key. We have to open up the continent. And of course, the final one, which I think is probably the most important, is value addition. Value addition so that all the resources that we have here in Africa will be able to add value to them. Instead of exporting everything in their raw form, we process them here, add value, and then export. If you take cocoa, for example, I keep giving this example because it's very interesting. Four countries in Africa, in fact, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon, they produced 75% of the total global supply of cocoa. This is a $200 billion industry annually. Yet, Africa gets only a fraction, maybe 10, probably 15% of that. So, these are the areas that we need to concentrate on.

I also gave the cement example in Nigeria. Look at Nigeria a few years ago, 15, 20 years ago, we were importing almost 90% of the cement we were consuming. Today, Nigeria is a net exporter. And that is because of the deliberate policy that was put in place for Nigeria to be mining, to be using the locally sourced limestone, add value, and produce cement. Today, Nigeria, we are producing over 30 million tons of cement. We are exporting, adding value in the process, creating wealth, creating jobs, and saving a lot of foreign exchange for the government. So, that is why we are here, and actually it's quite a good event, and quite a lot of attraction.

Interviewer 4:07 ↗

It's good to demonstrate your capacity on the continent, including your country back in the other sectors on the continent collaborating with the French government and other investors. Now, what does this bring for Nigeria as a future? What benefit would it...

Abdul Rabiu 4:27 ↗

Well, the benefits are not only for Nigeria, for the entire continent. But for Nigeria especially is that we understand that we need to collaborate, we need to work together with African countries, and you look a lot of opportunities are here in Africa. As you know, 30 to 35% of the resources, mineral resources of the whole world reside here in Africa. And probably 90% of those resources are exported in their raw form. So, we need to work together as a continent to be able to... I mean, Nigeria sits on a lot of resources, as you all know. But value addition is key. So, if we are able to work together, and we are able to also integrate, that is something that is going to support the entire continent, but Nigeria definitely will benefit from that.

3 more exchanges in this transcript

Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX

APA

Rabiu, A. (2026, May 13). Dangote should not need Visa Nigeria must stop export Abdulsamad Rabiu BUA CEO [Interview transcript]. TV Platinum. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/905552/

MLA

Abdul Rabiu. "Dangote should not need Visa Nigeria must stop export Abdulsamad Rabiu BUA CEO." TV Platinum, 13 May. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/905552/.

BibTeX

@misc{rabiu2026_905552,
  author       = {Abdul Rabiu},
  title        = {Dangote should not need Visa Nigeria must stop export Abdulsamad Rabiu BUA CEO},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, TV Platinum. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {may},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/905552/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}

▶

Key Quotes (3)

“Aliko Dangote was actually mentioning that, you know, he probably needs visas to 38 countries to go to some of the countries in Africa. So, that integration is key. We have to open up the continent.”

▶ 2:18 POLICY

“Instead of exporting everything in their raw form, we process them here, add value, and then export. If you take cocoa, for example, four countries in Africa, in fact, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon, they produce 75% of the total global supply of cocoa. This is a $200 billion industry annually. Yet, Africa gets only a fraction, maybe 10, probably 15% of that.”

▶ 2:42 POLICY

“Look at Nigeria a few years ago, 15, 20 years ago, we were importing almost 90% of the cement we were consuming. Today, Nigeria is a net exporter. And that is because of the deliberate policy that was put in place, you know, for Nigeria to be mining, to be using the locally, you know, sourced limestone, add value, and produce cement. Today, Nigeria, we are producing over 30 million tons of cement.”

▶ 3:24 POLICY

Mentioned in this interview

Aliko Dangote CEO: Needs visas to 38 African countries, cited as integration barrier

President Macron: Convened Nairobi meeting and initiated Africa House idea

President Ruto: Co-convened the Nairobi meeting

Ivory Coast: One of four countries producing 75% of global cocoa

Ghana: One of four countries producing 75% of global cocoa

Cameroon: One of four countries producing 75% of global cocoa

Africa House: Launched in Paris, co-chief launcher, funded by African business

Earlier, on the same topics

“As a result, Nigeria has transitioned from being a cement importer to a net exporter, saving the country billions of dollars of foreign exchange annually.”

Feb 10, 2026 at 4:19 →

Every Abdul Rabiu interview →

More interviews with Abdul Rabiu

BUA Cement 2025 Distributors' Awards | A night of recognition and awardsAug 24, 2026 · BUA Cement · 188 min
BUA Foods Plc 5th Annual General Meeting (2026)Jul 15, 2026 · BUA Foods Plc., · 99 min
BUA Cement Plc – 10th Annual General MeetingMay 22, 2026 · BUA Cement · 112 min
"Africa does not lack ambition..." - Abdul Samad Rabiu, BUA Group Founder/Executive ChairmanMay 16, 2026 · BUA Group · 12 min
Mining, Industries Require Sustainable Investment, says BUA Chair RabiuFeb 16, 2026 · Frontier Africa Reports · 13 min
ABDUL SAMAD RABIU, CALLS FOR SHIFT FROM EXTRACTION TO VALUE ADDITIONFeb 10, 2026 · BUA Group · 12 min

All Abdul Rabiu transcripts →

About Abdul Rabiu

Abdul Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Group, recently spoke at the BUA Foods Plc 5th Annual General Meeting in Abuja on July 15, 2026, where he addressed shareholders on the company's expansion plans and market position. He stated that upon completion of current projects, BUA Foods would become the largest player in its sector in Nigeria, noting that the company is the only indigenous Nigerian firm among four companies controlling nearly 90% of the market. Rabiu also commented on food prices, saying they have significantly dropped compared to the previous year, and discussed ongoing initiatives including sugar refining under a backward integration program, an oil milling plant, a feed mill, and a noodles plant. At the BUA Cement 2025 Distributors' Awards held on August 24, 2026, Rabiu announced a 30 naira per bag bonus for all dealers on volumes purchased in 2025, with approximately 5 billion naira earmarked for this purpose. He described the company's approach as building an institution and shaping the industry's future rather than merely moving products. In a separate meeting with Nigerian President Tinubu on July 15, 2026, Rabiu characterized the visit as a courtesy call to express appreciation for the president's support of the business environment, reaffirming BUA's commitment to investing in Nigeria and creating jobs.

All Abdul Rabiu appearances → TV Platinum on YouTube →