The responsibility for running the business of the company and ensuring profitability often rests directly with the CEO. Of course, running a business is never an individual job. But despite this, they are CEOs. As such, they carry most of the blame for the lower and the higher.
It goes without mentioning that CEOs are also the highest-paid employees of any company. In Nigeria, CEOs of large companies are paid well for their efforts. However, just as these companies have a range of asset size and profitability, so do their CEOs’ earnings.
Therefore, this article is about the highest-paid CEOs of companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Here’s what they won in 2019.
Note that the information supplied here does not include what CEOs might earn from dividends as their company’s shareholders. Data refer only to their annual compensation (executive compensation) as the highest-paid director.
1. Ferdinand Moolman, MTN Nigeria, 586 million naira
Ferdinand Moolman is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of one of Nigeria’s largest foreign direct investments – MTN Nigeria Communications Plc.
He was promoted to CEO on December 1, 2015, as part of a significant reorganization of the telecommunications company’s operational structure aimed at strengthening operational control, leadership, management, and regulatory compliance.
Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a position he held immediately. He was transferred from the MTN Iran cell, where he was Chief Operating Officer (COO).
It makes good sense that Nigeria’s largest publicly traded company is Nigeria’s highest-paid director.
Moolman earned 586 million naira in 2019, 2.5% more than the 571 million naira he made in 2018.
2. Austin Avuru, Seplat, 440 million naira
Augustine Avuru, co-founder and CEO of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, is he highest-paid director and the second highest in Nigeria for 2019.
Before becoming CEO of Seplat in May 2010, he was CEO of Platform Petroleum Limited, founded. He spent more than ten years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC), holding various positions, including a geologist, production seismologist, and reservoir engineer.
He was also Research Director and Technical Director of Allied Energy Resources in Nigeria, a pioneering deepwater operator, where he lasted ten years before launching Platform Petroleum Limited in 2002. He is also the Director of NYSE listed MPI. Euronext Paris.
Avuru received 440 million naira in damages in 2019, a deficit of 44 million naira from 2018 profits.
Remember that Seplat announced Roger Brown as the next CEO to take over when Avura retires on July 31, 2020.
3. Segun Agbaje, GTBank, 400 million naira
According to Agbaje, he joined Guaranty Trust Bank as a pioneer in 1991, and through the ranks, became CEO in 2011 after the death of Tayo Aderinokun, the former CEO.
As CEO, Agbaje took 400 million naira in compensation for 2019. This shows an increase of 16 million naira from his fees of 384 million naira in 2018 and given the bank’s impressive results over the years. We can say that this was duly justified.
He was newly elected an independent member of PepsiCo’s board of directors, the US owner of the popular drinks Pepsi and Moutain Dew. As reported by Nairametrics, Agbaje will officially take over as a member of the board of directors and a member of the PepsiCo audit committee in mid-July.
4. Yaw Nsarkoh, formerly with Unilever Nigeria Plc, 330 million naira
Yaw Nsarkoh has a long career within Unilever Group, holding prominent positions such as, among others, African Regional Brand Manager, Union Production Manager of Ghana.
He has headed several regional headquarters for a global manufacturing company, particularly in Africa. He was also the strategic assistant to the President of Unilever for Asia, Africa, Central, and Eastern Europe.
He resigned as CEO in December 2019, taking on new roles within the Unilever Group in Europe. Carl Raymond Cruz replaced him in January 2020. Before his departure, he earned 303 million naira in 2019, 8% less than the 330 million naira he made in 2018.
5. Michael Puchercos, formerly Lafarge Africa Plc, 272 million naira
For the fiscal year concluded December 31, 2019, Michael Puchercos earned 272 million naira, 18.7% from the 229 million naira earned in 2018.
Before he was nominated CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc, he held various cement industry positions for two decades. He was Chairman and CEO of Lafarge Halla Cement, Director of Strategy and Systems at Lafarge Gypsum, CEO of Bamburi Cement and Hima Cement; and president of Mbeya Cement in Tanzania.
In January 2020, he resigned from Lafarge and joined rival brand Dangote Cement Plc; and was replaced by Khaled Abdelaziz El Dokani, former CEO of Lafarge Holcim from Iraq in the country.
6. Jordi Borrut Bel, Nigerian Breweries Plc, 271 million naira
Jordi Borrut Bel is the CEO of Nigerian Breweries Plc. Mr. Bell is an experienced manager and has worked in various Heineken subsidiaries in different countries.
He was CEO of Brarudia SA, Director of Project Distribution at Heineken Slovensko AS, Brand Manager at Heineken France SAS, and Director of Sales and Distribution at Heineken Espaa SA. His last post before coming to Nigeria was Director Heineken Burundi.
Bela’s profits saw a qualitative leap from Naira 190 million in 2018 to Naira 271 million in 2019, around 42%. He was the sixth highest-paid director in 2019.
7. Mauricio Alarcon, Nestle Nigeria Plc, N218 million
Seventh on the list is Mauricio Alarcn, CEO of Nestle Nigeria Plc. Alarcn was appointed CEO in 2016, after a progressive 17-year career within the Nestle brand. He started as Sales Director at Nestle in Mexico, then moved on to Senior Brand Director.
He worked as a marketing consultant at Nestle, Switzerland, State Director at Nestle Cote d’Ivoire, then became CEO of the Nestle Atlantic cluster between June 2016 and September 2016, overseeing Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, and Ivory Coast.
Alarcn earned N218 million in 2019, a slight increase from the N210 million in 2018 he earned in 2018, placing him seventh on the list.
8. Lars Richter, Julius Berger, Nigeria Plc, N217million
Lars Richter is current CEO of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, to the position he was appointed to in 2018.
Before this appointment, he gained over 16 years of experience in the construction industry, including ten years in Nigeria, in various positions, including department head, project manager, and project engineer.
Richter ranks eighth on this list, with a turnover of 217 million naira in 2019. This is a pretty significant reduction from the 319 million naira he received in 2018, although he did not. There is no apparent justification for this.
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9. Emeka Emuwa, Union Bank of Nigeria, 172 million naira
Emuwa achieved an annual net turnover of 172 million naira in 2019, the same as in 2018. He was elected CEO of Union Bank of Nigeria in November 2012, after a progressive banking career of 25 years at CitiBank in various African countries.
He started as a management assistant at Citibank Nigeria Limited and was later promoted to Head of State position in Cameroon. He also oversaw all of the bank’s activities in the Central African region, including Congo and Gabon.
He has held strategic positions within the company in various countries, including Tanzania, Ghana, Niger, and Nigeria, and was CEO from 2005 to 2012 before taking a Union Bank Plc role.
10. Imrane Barry, Total Nigeria Plc, 163 million naira
Total Nigeria Plc has Imrane Barry as CEO. Imrane is not fresh to the Total group and was previously CEO of Total Uganda 2013, Total Cameroon SA 2015, and Total Nigeria Plc 2018.
He has also worked with other Total partners in Kenya and Ivory Coast, SEP-Congo as technician and director of transport, and Paris as responsible for strategy and development.
He was appointed Deputy CEO of Total Africa and the Middle East in 2012, before joining Total, Imrane held various engineering and construction companies in Conakry, Ivory Coast, and Gabon in Guinea.
Imrane won 163 million naira in damages in 2019, 41% more than his 115 million naira income in 2018.
Note: that these statistics are taken from the financial statements of the audited 2019 companies. As such, the numbers represent the earnings of these CEOs for 2019. As explained in the article, several CEOs are no longer in office, but there was no annual financial report describing their successors’ income; these figures are the most recent.
