Meet Nigeria’s highest paid CEOs

This article looks at the highest-paid CEOs of companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2019, excluding what they earned in dividends as shareholders of their respective companies as contained in the companies’ FY 2019 audited financial statement.

Leading the pack is the Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Ferdinand Moolman. He earned N586 million in 2019, 2.5% up from the N571 million he took home in 2018.

Before he was promoted to the position of CEO in 2015, Moolman was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a position he occupied immediately he was transferred from MTN Iran cell where he was the Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Co-founder and CEO of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Augustine Avuru, came second with N440 million earnings as CEO in 2019, a shortfall of N44 million when compared to his 2018 earnings.

Austin Avuru

He had spent over a decade at Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC), holding different positions including that of wellsite geologist, production seismologist, and reservoir engineer.

Segun Agbaje as MD/CEO of GTBank took N400 million home in remunerations for the year 2019. This shows an increase of N16 million from his N384 million remuneration in 2018, and given the impressive results that the bank showed for the year.

Segun Agbaje

Yaw Nsarkoh, prior to his departure from Unilever Nigeria Plc as MD/CEO in December 2019, earned N303 million in 2019, 8% less than the N330 million he earned in 2018.

He headed several regional headquarters of the global manufacturing company, especially in Africa. He also served as a Strategic Assistant to Unilever’s President for Asia, Africa, Central, and Eastern Europe.

For the financial year ended December 31st, 2019, Michael Puchercos earned N272 million, marking an 18.7% increase when compared to the N229 million he earned in 2018 as the CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc

He resigned from Lafarge in January 2020 to join competitor brand, Dangote Cement Plc and was succeeded by Mr. Khaled Abdelaziz El Dokani, the former country CEO of Lafarge Holcim Iraq.

CEO/MD of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrutn Bel’s earnings experienced a quantum leap from N190 million in 2018 to N271 million in 2019, an increase of about 42%. He was the sixth highest-paid CEO in 2019.

His last position prior to coming to Nigerian was that of the Managing Director of Heineken Burundi.

Seventh on the list is Mauricio Alarcon, the Chief Executive Officer of Nestle Nigeria Plc. He earned N218 million in 2019, a slight increase from the N210 million in 2018 he earned in 2018, placing him 7th place in the list.

Alarcon was appointed CEO in 2016, after a progressive 17 years career with the Nestle brand. He started as Area Sales Manager with Nestle Mexico and later became a Senior Brand Manager.

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The CEO of Julius Berger Plc, Lars Richter, places 8^th on this list, with an income of N217 million in 2019, a significant reduction from the N319 million he received in 2018.

Before this appointment, he had garnered over 16 years’ experience in the construction industry, with 10 years spent in Nigeria, in different positions including Division manager, Project manager, and Project engineer.

Emeka Emuwa

CEO/MD of Union Bank Plc., Emeka Emuwa is 9^th with an annual net income of N172 million in 2019, the same as he did in 2018.

He was appointed CEO of Union Bank of Nigeria in November 2012, after a progressive 25-year banking career at CitiBank across several African countries.

Total Nigeria Plc has Imrane Barry as its Managing Director. He took home N163 million as remunerations in 2019, 41% more than his 2018 earnings of N115 million.