Arsenal’s Premier League victory after 22 years of absence was celebrated in North London and in many other parts of the English capital, as is only natural. But not only: in many African cities too, many ordinary people took to the streets to celebrate the Gunners’ success. Arsenal’s bond with Africa is notoriously very strong, so there is not much to be surprised about. The point is that even some highly prominent politicians, even some heads of state, did not miss the opportunity to express their happiness. And their support, therefore.
After Manchester City’s draw against Bournemouth, which gave Arsenal the certainty of the title (the Citizens absolutely had to win to keep the title race open), the celebrations began in the streets of Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia), Nairobi (capital of Kenya) and Ilorin (a Nigerian city that surpasses a million inhabitants). Many invaded the streets with the Arsenal shirt, coming together in a collective embrace that had been missing for over twenty years. As said, however, even the presidents of some of those African countries used their social media profiles to celebrate the Gunners‘ Premier League victory.
The Rwandan president Paul Kagame, always an openly declared Arsenal fan, was among the first to congratulate the team. On his part, however, there was also another reason to be happy: Rwanda is closely tied to the Gunners also from a commercial point of view, given that the RDB (acronym for Rwanda Development Board), a state body, has a partnership agreement with the London club that had the “Visit Rwanda” logo placed on the red-and-white shirt. «Congratulations to Arsenal, our #VisitRwanda partner, for winning the Premier League championship after a hard-fought season!», wrote Kagame. «A thoroughly deserved title!». The president of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema too did not want to miss the opportunity to congratulate Arteta’s boys, as did that of Kenya, William Ruto, who on his social media profiles said: «It has been a truly thrilling experience following Arsenal’s epic adventure, from the moments of difficulty and the bitter setbacks, to the subsequent seasons of recovery and rebirth on their glorious journey to the top of the English Premier League».
A global success, then, for Arsenal, which has touched the feelings and made millions of people from all over the world explode with joy, who had been waiting for moments like these for too long. But it is not over, because on the agenda of every Gunners fan the date of Saturday 30 May is circled in red, when the final in Budapest between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain is scheduled. The people of North London hope to pour into the streets once again to celebrate a victory that might be even more important. Alongside them, at least virtually, countless African fans could do the same.