They say behind every successful man is a woman, yet here we are. The richest man in Africa is out there lonely and searching for his missing rib. The Nigerian business mogul and owner of Dangote Group’s net worth was estimated at about $14.1 billion as at March 2018. How such a man is in need of companionship when men with not up to a quarter of his wealth are wooing ladies with the few coins in their accounts kind of beats the imagination.
But it is quite easy to wrap your mind around the fact if you consider that this is one extremely busy man who does not have to for anything apart from making that money. The business magnate though twice divorced with three grown-up daughters is not giving up on love and companionship just yet. In an interview with David Paling for the Financial Times, Mr. Dangote gave a glimpse into his private life and also revealed plans to buy Arsenal, just because he loves the team.
He admitted that even though he has too many businesses to run, he needs to calm down a bit and settle down. “I’m not getting younger. Sixty years is no joke. But it doesn’t make sense to go out and get somebody if you don’t have the time. Right now, things are really, really very busy, because we have the refinery, we have the petrochemicals, we have the fertilizer, we have the gas pipeline”, he said.
Mr. Dangote also revealed that even though he owns the biggest food chain in his country, he makes it a point to fast at least once a week because “it helps to clean your system”. Although he has all the money in Africa, he admits that it is not easy living in Nigeria, where it is truly about the survival of the fittest. His new refinery is making him a lot of enemies but he understands that “the game is the game”.
“You can’t just come and remove food from their table and think they’re just going to watch you doing it… They will try all sorts of tricks. This is a very, very tough society. Only the toughest of the tough survive here”.
About buying Arsenal, a club estimated to be around $2bn, Africa’s wealthiest said “I love Arsenal and I will definitely go for it… When I buy it, I have to bring it up to the expectations of our supporters,” he said. He admitted the refinery is taking up most of his attention for now, but “once I have finished with that headache, I will take on football”.