Nigeria, May 15 -- Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, has once again revealed how the enormous scale of his $20 billion refinery project in Lagos forced him to abandon plans to buy English Premier League giants Arsenal.

Dangote made the disclosure during a podcast conversation with Nicolai Tangen, which was released on YouTube.

The billionaire businessman explained that he had seriously considered a takeover of the North London club at a time when Arsenal's valuation stood around $2 billion. However, he ultimately decided that committing such a huge amount to football ownership could jeopardise the completion of his massive industrial projects, including the Dangote Refinery, fertiliser plant and petrochemical ventures.

"When I was r...