BUA Group partners Sweden’s Alfa Laval to build new palm oil refinery in Nigeria
BUA Group, one of Africa’s leading industrial conglomerates, has signed a strategic partnership with Sweden’s Alfa Laval to construct a state-of-the-art palm oil refinery and fractionation plant in Nigeria.
The agreement was signed in Dubai by BUA’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, and Panjak Maheshwari, Vice President of the Food & Water Division at Alfa Laval.
The new refinery, with a planned capacity of 1,000 tons per day, is aimed at enhancing local processing capabilities and reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported palm oil.
According to BUA Group, the facility will promote industrial self-sufficiency, support sustainable agricultural practices, and generate employment across the value chain. It also aligns with Nigeria’s broader efforts to increase local value addition and strengthen its food manufacturing base.
This move adds to a series of recent investments by the Rabiu-led group. In December 2024, BUA launched a 2,400-ton-per-day Plaster of Paris (POP) and plasterboard plant in Port Harcourt. Around the same period, the company partnered with Austria’s Starlinger & Co. to establish a packaging facility capable of producing 600 million polypropylene bags annually.
The upcoming palm oil refinery further expands BUA’s growing footprint in the food and manufacturing industries, reinforcing the role of BUA Foods Plc — the group’s food business subsidiary — as a major player in Nigeria’s agribusiness sector.
BUA Foods currently operates in sugar refining, oil milling, flour, pasta, and rice production. Together, Abdul Samad Rabiu and his son, Isyaku Naziru Rabiu, control a 94.25% stake in the company, which is valued at $4.9 billion on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).
Rabiu, with a personal stake of 92.63%, is Nigeria’s third-richest man, with an estimated net worth of $4.9 billion. His continued expansion into agro-industrial ventures reflects both a business strategy and a commitment to national economic development.
