Africa’s Richest Man: Very Regretful for Not Spending Billions to Buy Arsenal, Now the Price Has Gone Up

In an interview with Bloomberg, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote revealed that he has long held a deep affection for Arsenal Football Club and had once come close to acquiring it but ultimately did not decide to spend $2 billion to complete the purchase.

Dangote disclosed, “When I wanted to buy Arsenal, the team wasn’t performing well. But now, I don’t have the liquidity to spend $4 billion to buy a club and then use it as a publicity tool. I would rather use this money for other things. I will continue to be Arsenal’s biggest fan and watch the games.”

Dangote pointed out that he no longer harbors thoughts of acquiring Arsenal, but in the past, he was indeed very interested in completing the purchase of Arsenal: “I think it makes no sense to acquire Arsenal today. In fact, I am very regretful that I didn’t buy it for $2 billion at the time, but my money needed to be used to complete my projects, not to acquire Arsenal.”

According to Bloomberg, Aliko Dangote’s net worth is approximately $13 billion, making him one of the 150 richest people globally and Africa’s richest man. He does indeed have the financial strength to acquire Arsenal, however, his main focus currently lies with other projects.

Not long ago, at the 38th graduation ceremony of Bayero University Kano, Dangote’s senior advisor Mansur Ahmed delivered a speech proposing “Eleven Visions.” This billionaire hopes to help Nigeria advance industrialization and promote the development of a “Nigerian private economy, knowledge-oriented economy, sustainable economy.”