Society Gists

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has reinstated his desire to buy Arsenal within the next four years.
The Nigerian billionaire who is worth over an estimated $10.9 billion had his earlier approach rejected.

Dangote, 58-year-old, who has made his fortune through various operations including cement manufacturing, sugar supply and oil investments, said that he will wait for investments in gas pipelines to play out before making the acquisition.
“There’s no doubt,” Dangote told Bloomberg Television. “It’s not a problem.”

“Maybe three to four years. The issue is that we have more challenging headwinds. I need to get those out the way first and start having tailwinds. Then I’ll focus on this.

“It’s not about buying Arsenal and just continuing with business as usual. It’s about buying Arsenal and turning it around.
“I’ve run a very successful business and I think I can also run a very successful team. Right now, with what we’re facing, over $20 billion of projects, I cannot do both.”

Should the billionaire succeed in his bid, he would become the first African owner of a football club in the English Premier League.

Six years ago, Dangote tried to take over the 15 per cent shares owned by Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, who eventually sold her stake to Stan Kroenke.

Dangote lost about £3.4billion last year due to the depreciation of Nigeria’s currency, while his Dangote Cement’s stock is down by nearly five per cent this year.