As Nigeria navigates financial reforms, unstable trade charges, and shifting business dynamics, CEO compensation presents a robust lens into how corporations reward management.
Government pay not solely displays profitability and progress but additionally indicators investor confidence and sectoral efficiency. Based mostly on the 2024 monetary disclosures of listed corporations, the figures signify complete CEO compensation, together with base wage, efficiency bonuses, allowances, advantages, and dividends.
Based on MarketForces Africa, these are the highest 10 highest-paid CEOs in Nigeria, with their annual salaries acknowledged in naira.
ALSO READ: The highest paid CEO in the world earns $23.5 Billion (₦37 Trillion) in a year
10 Highest Paid CEOs in Nigeria
1. Roger Brown: CEO, Seplat Power Plc
Annual Compensation: ₦3.90 billion
On the very prime is Roger Brown of Seplat Power, Nigeria’s foremost indigenous power agency. Seplat is the nation’s main impartial power firm, dual-listed on the Nigerian Trade and the London Inventory Trade. With operations throughout oil exploration, manufacturing, and an increasing gas-to-power portfolio, the corporate is a key participant in Nigeria’s power safety and transition efforts.
Brown joined Seplat in 2013 as Chief Monetary Officer and rose to the place of CEO in 2020. With a profession rooted in funding banking and company finance, he has been instrumental in main acquisitions, capital elevating, and steering the corporate by means of unstable world oil markets. Beneath his management, Seplat has strengthened its gasoline enterprise whereas sustaining its place as a resilient, growth-driven power agency.
2. Karl Toriola: CEO, MTN Nigeria Plc
Annual Compensation: ₦3.14 billion
Karl Toriola leads Nigeria’s largest telecom operator. MTN Nigeria is the biggest telecommunications firm in Nigeria and a subsidiary of the MTN Group, Africa’s largest cell operator. With over 77 million subscribers, the corporate dominates the Nigerian telecoms market, offering cell, knowledge, and digital companies that energy a lot of the nation’s connectivity.
Toriola took over as CEO in March 2021 after serving in numerous management roles throughout MTN Group’s operations. He has greater than twenty years of expertise in telecoms, having labored with MTN in a number of African markets and holding senior positions in engineering, operations, and technique. Since assuming management, he has centered on increasing MTN Nigeria’s broadband attain, driving monetary inclusion by means of cell cash companies, and deepening the corporate’s digital transformation technique.
RELATED: These are the degrees most CEOs have – Are you on the right path?
3. Adegbite Falade: CEO, Aradel Holdings Plc
Annual Compensation: ₦2.44 billion
Aradel Holdings (previously Niger Delta Exploration & Manufacturing) will not be as fashionable as Seplat or MTN, however its profitability is simple. Aradel is a high-margin upstream participant in Nigeria’s oil & gasoline business. Adegbite Falade, CEO of Aradel Holdings Plc, is amongst Nigeria’s extremely compensated executives, reflecting the corporate’s rising affect within the power sector.
The corporate was previously referred to as Niger Delta Exploration & Manufacturing Plc, and it is likely one of the few Nigerian corporations with its personal refinery, giving it a singular place within the downstream and midstream segments of the business. Falade, an engineer and enterprise chief, brings over twenty years of expertise throughout oil, gasoline, and energy.
Earlier than becoming a member of Aradel, he held senior positions at Oilserv Restricted and Oando Plc, the place he led initiatives that strengthened Nigeria’s power infrastructure. At Aradel, his management has been instrumental in driving native content material, increasing refining capability, and aligning the corporate with Nigeria’s long-term power transition agenda.
4. Wale Tinubu: CEO, Oando Plc
Annual Compensation: ₦1.80 billion
Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Government of Oando Plc, ranks amongst Nigeria’s highest-paid CEOs, along with his compensation reflecting the corporate’s dimension and complexity. Oando is one among Africa’s main indigenous power teams, with pursuits spanning petroleum exploration and manufacturing, buying and selling, provide and distribution, and power companies.
As a publicly listed firm on each the Nigerian Trade and the Johannesburg Inventory Trade, Oando performs a vital position in Nigeria’s oil and gasoline worth chain. Tinubu, a skilled lawyer and entrepreneur, has led Oando for over twenty years, reworking it from a small downstream participant into a totally built-in power conglomerate.
Beneath his management, Oando has executed main acquisitions, together with the landmark buy of ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian belongings, and expanded its footprint throughout Africa. Regardless of the challenges of oil worth volatility and regulatory hurdles, Tinubu has saved the corporate on the forefront of Nigeria’s power sector.
5. Arvind Pathak: CEO, Dangote Cement Plc
Annual Compensation: ₦1.58 billion
Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest cement producer, with a market capitalization that makes it probably the most invaluable corporations on the Nigerian Trade. Working throughout 10 African international locations, the corporate holds a dominant place within the continent’s building and infrastructure sectors. Arvind Pathak oversees operations throughout a number of African international locations.
Pathak, an business veteran with a long time of expertise in cement manufacturing and administration, beforehand served as CEO of Birla Corp in India earlier than becoming a member of Dangote Cement. He has additionally labored with the Lafarge Group, bringing deep experience in operations, technique, and worldwide growth.
RELATED: PENGASSAN condemned for claiming Dangote Refinery sacked 800 Nigerians
6. Samba Seye: CEO, TotalEnergies Nigeria Plc
Annual Compensation: ₦1.06 billion
TotalEnergies is one among Nigeria’s largest multinational oil and gasoline corporations, working throughout the upstream, downstream, and advertising and marketing segments. The corporate performs a significant position in petroleum merchandise provide, exploration, and distribution, whereas additionally investing in Nigeria’s shift towards cleaner and renewable power.
Seye, a Senegalese nationwide, has spent over twenty years throughout the TotalEnergies Group, holding management roles throughout Africa and Europe. His profession has spanned engineering, operations, and company management, making ready him to supervise the Nigerian subsidiary, one of many group’s largest markets worldwide. Since he was appointed CEO, he has centered on sustaining profitability, bettering distribution effectivity, and positioning the corporate to play a number one position in Nigeria’s evolving power panorama.
7. Adaora Umeoji: GMD/CEO, Zenith Financial institution Plc
Annual Compensation: ₦874 million
Adaora Umeoji made historical past in 2024 as the primary feminine Group Managing Director of Zenith Financial institution. Zenith Financial institution is likely one of the nation’s largest monetary establishments and a tier-one financial institution with a powerful presence throughout Africa and in worldwide monetary hubs.
