Africa’s richest man, Billionaire Aliko Dangote, has restated that his $20 billion refinery project in Lagos prevented him from buying into English Premier League club, Arsenal.
In a podcast broadcast by Nicolai Tangen, Chief Executive Officer of Norges Bank Investment released on YouTube Wednesday, Dangote said that if not for the refinery project, he would have bought the North London Gunners.
According to Dangote, Arsenal was worth about $2 billion at the time he was seriously considering a takeover, but the magnitude of his refinery project did not allow him the luxury of diverting funds to a football club ownership.
“When I was really very focused on buying Arsenal, then I was also facing the challenge of making sure the refinery gets its own completion, the fertilizer, the petrochemical.
At that time, Arsenal was worth just about $2 billion. Should I put my $2 billion in Arsenal and now allow the business to suffer? Or should I complete the business? Then I can continue to remain a very big supporter of Arsenal,” recalled the billionaire businessman.
