6 businesses owned by Nigerian billionaire Kashim Shettima Bukar

Kashim Shettima Bukar is one of Nigeria’s wealthiest men and the founder of Barbedos Group – a conglomerate with tentacles spanning everything from private aviation to energy.

He started off his career in the banking sector. In the 1980s and early 1990s he worked at Reliance Bank Ltd. and later Leemas International Ltd., where he got a view of how Nigerian companies actually financed trade — how risk was priced, how working-capital lines were structured, how imports were documented. That experience mattered. Many entrepreneurs of his generation came in through trading and learned finance later; Bukar learned finance first.

With that grounding, and degrees from Kaduna Polytechnic and Kufena College, plus short courses in Europe, he set up what became the Barbedos platform in the early 1990s. The first vehicle was Barbedos Ventures Ltd. It was a basic, cash-generating business: fertiliser, agro inputs, general supply. It wasn’t a prestige play, but it put him in front of government buyers, contractors and private off-takers — the kind of customers that need reliability more than branding.

From there he didn’t stay in one lane. As his client base widened, he added businesses that served the same people: an auto arm to source vehicles and fleets for corporates and public agencies; an oil and gas services unit to supply fuel and related products to the same customers; and, eventually, aviation — for executives and energy operators who needed to move across West and Central Africa quickly.

Aviation was the step-change. As offshore and oil-and-gas activity picked up, charter services were still dominated by foreign operators. Bukar spotted the opening: a Nigerian firm that could handle aircraft procurement, crew staffing, maintenance and flight scheduling locally could win on speed and relationships, not just on price. That thinking produced Barbedos Aviation Services Ltd., and later Skyjet Aviation Services Ltd., both Nigerian-owned, operating out of Lagos, Abuja and Kaduna, and comfortable working with Embraer partners to reach Cameroon, Ghana, Gabon, Senegal and Equatorial Guinea.

These are the various businesses Kashim Shettima Bukar controls.

1. Barbedos Group Limited (Holding Company)

At the centre of Bukar’s business structure, Barbedos Group coordinates investment and strategic oversight across multiple subsidiaries in energy, automotive and aviation. The holding company manages compliance, capital allocation and joint-venture partnerships across Nigeria and West Africa.

2. Barbedos Aviation Services Limited

This is the group’s flagship arm in a fast-growing regional market. Under Bukar’s leadership, it provides aircraft management, flight-crew staffing, maintenance certification and charter scheduling. The company’s focus on security, safety and service has earned it contracts with corporate and private clients seeking Nigerian-based alternatives to foreign operators.

3. Skyjet Aviation Services Limited

A wholly owned Nigerian carrier headquartered in Lagos with bases in Abuja and Kaduna, Skyjet manages executive and charter flights across West Africa. The company partners with Embraer Commercial Aviation and Embraer Executive Jets, serving markets in Cameroon, Ghana, Gabon, Senegal and Equatorial Guinea.

4. Barbedos Oil and Gas Services Limited

Initially set up to import and distribute refined petroleum products, this subsidiary supplies diesel, naphtha and lubricants to industrial and marine clients. It also acts as a logistics link between local energy producers and offshore support operators.

5. Barbedos Cars Limited

A specialist automotive unit handling fleet sourcing, luxury-vehicle sales and armoured car supply to government and corporate clients.

6. Barbedos Ventures Limited

The original nucleus of the group, focusing on fertiliser and agro-input distribution before expanding into equipment leasing and general contracting.