Africa’s richest man: “I regret not buying Arsenal”

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has expressed his regret over not buying Arsenal, claiming he had the opportunity to do so for $2 billion.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the Nigerian billionaire and lifelong Arsenal fan spoke about his interest in owning the Premier League club, suggesting that his focus on completing his massive refinery project ultimately took priority over pursuing his ambitions of buying the club.

“I regret I did not buy Arsenal before, I would have bought it for $2 billion,” Dangote said. “My money was needed to complete my project (the refinery) rather than buying Arsenal. If I had bought the club, I would not have been able to finish my refinery. The best decision was to complete the refinery.”

While Dangote’s remarks suggest he once had a chance to purchase the club, there has never been any concrete evidence or public indication that Stan Kroenke, Arsenal’s owner, was ever willing to sell or that the club was actually up for sale.

Despite this, Dangote has repeatedly voiced his desire to one day own Arsenal, which has kept fans speculating over the years.

Dangote, who leads the Dangote Group, spent over $20 billion to build Nigeria’s first private refinery, the Dangote Refinery, one of the largest private investments in the country’s history. This immense financial commitment was cited as the primary reason he chose not to pursue ownership of Arsenal at the time.

Over the years, Dangote has frequently hinted at his interest in Arsenal.

In 2015, he first mentioned his desire to buy the club, and in 2020, he reiterated, “It is a team that yes I would like to buy someday, but what I keep saying is we have $20 billion worth of projects and that’s what I really want to concentrate on. I’m trying to finish building the company and then after we finish, maybe some time in 2021 we can. I’m not buying Arsenal right now, I’m buying Arsenal when I finish all these projects, because I’m trying to take the company to the next level.”

Despite these public declarations, there has never been any indication that Arsenal’s ownership was up for negotiation. When Kroenke took full control of Arsenal in 2018, many fans, at the time, hoped he might be open to offers, but both Stan and his son, Josh Kroenke, have repeatedly affirmed their commitment to the club and Arsenal are starting to reap the rewards of that.

In response to 2019 fan movements demanding better ownership, Josh stated, “We all want the same thing and we’re all trying aggressively to make it happen. It’s just sometimes our timeline might not be as aggressive as others would like to see.”

For now, it appears Dangote’s dream of owning Arsenal remains just that – a dream. While he continues to support the club as a passionate fan, you would be hard pushed to find any other Arsenal fans that would still like to change the current ownership.