Africa’s richest man and business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said he regretted not buying the English Premier League club, Arsenal, when he was interested in owning a football club.
The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group said he wished he had bought the club when it was valued at around $2 billion.
He spoke in an interview with Bloomberg in New York, where he disclosed that he missed out on buying Arsenal because he committed his resources to the refinery project.
Dangote said, “I think that time has passed. The last time when we had this interview, I told you as soon as I finish with the refinery, I am going to try and buy Arsenal.
“But you know everything has gone up and the club too is doing very well, Arsenal is doing extremely well right now. That time Arsenal wasn’t doing well.
“I think I don’t have that kind of excess liquidity to go and buy a club for $4 billion and use it as a promotional something.
“But what I will do is to continually be the biggest fan of Arsenal. I watch their games anytime they are playing. So, I will remain a major supporter of Arsenal but I don’t think it makes sense today to buy Arsenal.”
When asked if he regretted not buying when Arsenal’s value was lower, he said, “Actually, I regret not buying it before but you know my money was more needed in completing my project (Dangote refinery) than buying Arsenal. I would have bought the club for $2 billion but you know I wouldn’t have been able to finish my project. So, It was either I finish my project or go and buy Arsenal.”
In 2020, the richest man in Africa disclosed his intention to buy the North London club after his refinery project.
