As the year (2022) is coming to an end, some Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have again made fortunes, especially those who are newsworthy in the corporate environment.
Leading the pack of this listicle is Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Access Corporation, who warned N1.64 billion.
A look into how top CEOs in Nigeria earned in 2022
Wigwe was closely followed on the ranking by Roger Brown of Seplat, Olusegun Ogunsanya of Airtel Africa, Michel Purcheros of Dangote Cement, and Folasope Aiyesimoju of UAC, in that order.
BizWatch Nigeria understands that the top five CEOs had an average total remuneration of N773.39 million, but only Wigwe earned above the average.
Herbert Wigwe Of Access Bank
Wigwe, the current CEO of Access Corporation as indicated in the bank’s 2021 annual financial
statement, assumed the position of CEO of Access Bank in January 2014, had direct and indirect shares amounting to 1,517,850,729 at a dividend per share (DPS) of N1.00k. According to the report, the 25% increase in DPS from N0.80k in 2020 to N1.00k in 2021 in addition to a base salary of N120 million took his total compensation to N1.64 billion.
Wigwe experienced a 23.31% year-on-year increase in total compensation from N1.33 billion earned in 2021.
Roger Thompson Brown of Seplat
Brown became CEO of Seplat Energy in June 2020, replacing Austin Avuru, who had earned a total of N2.90 billion in total compensation in 2020.
Brown’s earnings soared significantly when compared to the N609 million he earned for the financial year of 2021. He, however, had a 65.06% increase in earnings from N369.5 million in 2020, when he made his first-time entry into the list of highest remunerated CEOs.
Olusegun Ogunsanya of Airtel Africa
Following the retirement of Ragutha Mandava, Ogunsanya assumed the position of CEO and was appointed to the board in October 2021.
The Airtel Africa’s chief ranked third highest paid CEO in total compensation in Nigeria with N590.73 million, consisting of N391.5 million in benefits earned and N199.23 million in base salary.
Michel Purchercos of Dangote Cement
Purhercos of Dangote Cement is the CEO with the highest base salary at N531 million. He, however, ranked fourth highest-paid CEO in total compensation.
Purhercos is the CEO with the highest base salary at N531 million. However, the report showed that he ranked fourth highest-paid CEO in total compensation.
“Interestingly, Purchercos has no record of share ownership and received no benefit for the year 2021. He ranked seventh highest CEO as of 2020 but an increase in his base salary lifted his ranking in 2021.
“The Dangote Cement boss experienced an 18.53% Y-o-Y increase in total compensation from N448 million in 2020 to N531 million in 2021,” a Proshare report read.
Folasope Aiyesimoju of UAC Nigeria
Aiyesimoju, who was appointed CEO of UAC Nigeria Plc in April 2019, earned a total remuneration of N497.42 million, placing him as the fifth highest-paid CEO in total compensation in Nigeria for the year 2021.
The UAC boss earned N401.44 million in dividends, a 19.71% increase from N315.32 million he earned in 2020, in addition to a base salary of 95.987 million.
Ebenezer Onyeagwu of Zenith Bank
Onyeagwu’s base salary increased by 6.96% while his total compensation increased by 21.16% between 2020 and 2021.
The increase in total compensation was a result of the increase in shares owned from 46.5 kobo to about 65 kobo and dividend per share from N3 kobo to N3.10 kobo. Thus, his dividend income increased by 44.58% from N139.5 million in 2020 to N201.69 million in 2021, leading to an overall increase in total remuneration.
Lars Ritcher of Julius Berger
Richter was appointed Director and Managing Director of Julius Berger with effect from October 16, 2018, replacing Engr. Wolfgang Goetsch.
The total remuneration disbursed by Julius Berger to Ritcher amounted to N408.91 million void of shares owned, hence no dividend income. He ranked seventh on this list based on total compensation, a significant improvement having missed the list in previous year’s ranking.
