My dream of buying Arsenal is over, says Africa’s richest man

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has given up hope of buying Premier League football club Arsenal after its value shot up while he was building the continent’s largest oil refinery.

The billionaire, an ardent fan of the London team, said in 2019 that he would consider buying Arsenal after completing his 650 000 barrel-a-day refinery outside Lagos, Nigeria. This year, the $20 billion plant has started producing diesel and jet fuel and refining gasoline.

“I regret not buying it before but my money was needed in completing my project then,” the tycoon said in an interview on Bloomberg Television in New York on Monday. “I don’t have that kind of excess liquidity to go and buy a club for $4 billion,” which he suggested was about Arsenal’s current valuation, adding that he would have bought it for $2 billion a few years ago.

Arsenal is owned by American billionaire Stan Kroenke, whose son Josh takes an active role in the club. There is no suggestion that Kroenke would sell the club. In 2021, Spotify founder Daniel Ek — also an Arsenal fan — said he had an offer rejected.

Either way, Dangote believes completing the refinery was a good decision, considering the value of the petroleum project to Nigeria — even if it affected his sporting ambition. The billionaire and the government have long said the project will finally wean Africa’s largest crude producer off imported fuel and help it end a subsidy that costs billions of dollars annually.

Dangote believes the dollars saved from importing petrol will boost supply and support the West African nation’s currency. The naira has come under pressure, losing about 70% of its value since reforms last year, intended to attract inflows, enabled it to trade freely.

“I think the best decision was for us to go and complete our refinery,” Dangote said. “I will remain a major supporter of Arsenal.”

The Gunners finished second behind Manchester City for the last two seasons, with manager Mikel Arteta vying to win its first Premier League title since 2004.