Highest paid MD/CEOs in Nigeria in 2021

The Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer is the highest position in any organization and is usually faced with the responsibility of making the hardest decisions in the company.

They are mostly praised when the company is doing well and often criticized if the reverse is the case, no wonder they are usually the highest-paid employees in the company. Due to the sensitivity of the role, companies go a long way in attracting the best hands for the job, hence incentivising them with competitive salaries.

In a typical Nairametrics fashion, we bring to you a list of the highest-ranking CEOs for 2021 based on their executive compensation (exec comps). The MD/CEOs of the top 37 companies on the NGX, who reported the directors’ remunerations, earned about N5.51 billion in salaries in 2021 compared to N5.33 billion in the previous year.

The data was sourced from the published audited accounts of the companies and verified by Nairametrics Research.

#5. Mr Khaled Abdel Aziz El Dokani (Lafarge Africa) – N288.6 million

• Khaled is the MD/CEO of Lafarge Africa, a position he occupied from January 2020 after the former MD, Mr. Michel Puchercos resigned from his position. Khaled received a sum of N288.62 million as salary for the 2021 financial year compared to N221.22 million received in the previous year.
• In addition to his salaries, he received N102.82 million as other benefits in the same year, bringing his total earnings for the year to N391.43 million as against the N334.89 million he received in 2020.
• In terms of the financial performance of the company, Lafarge Africa printed a profit after tax of N51 billion in 2021, a 65.4% increase compared to N30.84 billion recorded in the preceding year.
• Khaled Abdelaziz El Dokani joined LafargeHolcim in 2004. Prior to his current position, he was Country CEO of Iraq (2018-2019), Qatar (2016-2018), Saudi Arabia (2013–2016), Vice-President for Business Development and Strategy North America (2010-2013), and CFO in Lafarge Algeria (2004 – 2010).
• He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Alexandria University, Egypt.

#4. Mr. Ravindra Singhvi (Dangote Sugar) – N289.7 million

• Mr Ravindra Singh Singhvi is the Group Managing Director/CEO of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc. Prior to his appointment as the Group Managing Director on the 30th of October 2020; he was the Ag. Managing Director.
• Singhvi earned a sum of N289.7 million as remuneration in 2021, a significant increase compared to N134.6 million received in the previous year. He joined Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc as the Chief Operating Officer on 13th August 2018.
• He has over 40 years of proven experience in leadership positions in manufacturing and processes in sugar, petrochemicals, cement, textile products industries in India. Mr. Singhvi is a Chartered Accountant with a background in Company Secretaryship and General Management.
• He possesses a Bachelor’s Degree in B.Com (Hons) from the University of Jodhpur, India.
• Prior to joining Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Mr. Singhvi was the Managing Director & CEO of NSL Sugar Limited, Hyderabad, India, and Managing Director, EID Parry (1) Limited, Chennai, India, one of the top three sugar-producing companies in India.
• Dangote Sugar recorded a 25.9% year-on-year decline in its profit after tax to N22.05 billion from N29.78 billion recorded in the previous year.

#3. Mr. Karl Toriola (MTN Nigeria) – N368 million

• Karl Toriola received a sum of N368 million as remuneration in 2021, this is a decline compared to the N567 million earned by the former MD, Ferdinand Moolman in 2020. It is worth noting that Karl Toriola is the only Nigerian on the top five list for 2021.
• He joined MTN Nigeria as Chief Technical Officer in 2006 before holding various positions across the MTN Group. He has over 24 years’ experience from serving at MTN Group, WECA region; MTN Cameroon and before life in MTN, he worked at Vmobile Nigeria; Ericsson Nigeria & AG Switzerland.
• He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, and a Master of Science degree in Communication Systems from the University of Wales, Swansea, UK.
• He has also completed several programmes at INSEAD, Singapore; Wharton Business School, USA; London Business School, UK; Harvard Business School, USA; and Institute of Management Development (IMD), Switzerland.
• He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE) as well as a member of the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) and the Institute of Directors (IoD).
• MTN Nigeria posted a profit after tax of N298.65 billion in 2021, which is 45.5% higher than the N205.21 billion posted in the previous year.

#2. Roger Brown (Seplat Energy) – N475 million

• Roger Brown assumed the role as the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Energy on 1st August 2020, following the retirement of Austin Avuru. Roger Brown earned a sum of N475 million as salary in 2021, a decline compared to N484 million received in the previous year.
• Brown joined Seplat as Chief Financial Officer in 2013. With a background in finance, he is a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and also a member of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.
• Brown has over 25 years’ experience in the financial sector, primarily focused on emerging markets with extensive experience in structuring energy and infrastructure transactions on the African continent.
• Prior to joining the Company, he held the position of Managing Director of Oil and Gas EMEA for Standard Bank Group.
• In the year under review the oil company posted a profit after tax of N46.93 billion, an overturn from the loss of N30.71 billion recorded in 2020.

#1. Michel Puchercos (Dangote Cement) – N531 million

• Mr Michel Pucheros, who was formerly with Lafarge Africa, earned a sum of N531 million from Dangote Cement in the year 2021. He is the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the most capitalized manufacturing company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
• He was appointed to the position effective January 2020, after resigning from Lafarge Africa in the same year.
• According to information on the website of Dangote Cement, Michel has more than 20 years of experience in the cement industry having served in various capacities at Lafarge.
• He served as the President & Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Halla Cement; Director of Strategy and Systems at Lafarge Gypsum.
• He also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Bamburi Cement and Hima Cement; and Chairman of Mbeya Cement in Tanzania.
• He resigned from Lafarge in January 2020 to join a competitor brand, Dangote Cement Plc and was succeeded by Mr Khaled Abdelaziz El Dokani, the former country CEO of Lafarge Holcim Iraq.
• Dangote Cement recorded a 32% year-on-year growth in profit after tax to N364.4 billion, compared to N276.1 billion recorded in the previous year. This implies that the cement giant posted the highest net profit in 2021 compared to other companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Others on the list include:

#6. Ebenezer Onyeagwu (Zenith Bank) – N246 million

#7. Hans Essaadi/ Jordi Borrut Bel (Nigerian Breweries) – N243.1 million

#8. Baker Magunda (Guinness Nigeria) – N243 million

#9. Carl Cruz (Unilever Nigeria) – N231.6 million

#10. Wassim Elhusseini (Nestle Nigeria) – N206.4 million

(Nairametrics)