Nigerian billionaire Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder and chairman of BUA Group, recently shared how South Africa denied him entry into the country over expired visas.
Rabiu said South African authorities turned him back at Cape Town airport despite his high-profile status and business intentions.
Rabiu, currently ranked as Africa’s second richest man with a surging net worth that recently placed him ahead of South African billionaire Johann Rupert, recounted the incident during the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda.
The event occurred in February 2025 when he flew from Lagos to attend the Mining Indaba. His visa had expired just one day prior, leading immigration officials to deny him entry after several hours of delay.
According to Rabiu, he and his team were held for about four hours before being sent back to Lagos. He acknowledged the technical violation but highlighted what he saw as an inconsistent application of rules.
While his entry was blocked, passengers arriving on multiple flights from Europe were reportedly allowed into South Africa without visas under bilateral agreements.
“I had a personal experience. Last year, in February, I was travelling to Cape Town for the Mining Indaba. And as we landed. I left at night from Lagos to Cape Town. We arrived at 6 in the morning,” he said.
“As we arrived, we went to the immigration. I tendered my passport, and the immigration officer looked at it and was like, where is your visa, and I said, “My visa is there”. Unknown to me, my visa had expired the day before.
“Unfortunately, our crew did not check the visas to ensure they were valid. We were there for four hours, but at the end of the day, I had to turn back. I was turned back to Lagos.
“But the issue is, while we were waiting to see whether we would be able to get access to the countries without the visas, there were like three international flights from Europe. All three flights were mostly Europeans.
“I was standing there by the immigration desk, and every passenger on those three flights went into Cape Town without any visa.”
The BUA boss stressed that although he accepted responsibility for the expired visa, the experience reflected broader challenges facing Africans within Africa, saying, “I do not have a problem with the fact that I was there without the visa and I was returned. I took full responsibility for that.
“I had an issue with being an African in Africa, being turned away because I do not have a visa, and foreigners from other continents were coming in and were allowed to enter without a visa. This must change.”
Meanwhile, reactions have begun to trail the revelation that South Africa denied BUA boss entry into the country.
This is as the comments come amid rising cases of xenophobic tensions in South Africa.
Below are some of the reactions curated from social media;
