Kessner Capital's Gulf Strategy: Shadow Finance Targets Africa
When a British firm relocates to Abu Dhabi, it signals more than geographic expansion - it reveals a dangerous shift toward unaccountable finance.
From London's Oversight to Gulf's Shadows
The announcement appears routine: British firm Kessner Capital Management expands its global presence by partnering with an Emirati family office to establish regional operations in the UAE capital. Yet this move represents something far more troubling - the deliberate circumvention of Western financial oversight and the establishment of shadow networks targeting African markets.
Kessner, specializing in private credit and special situations across African markets, abandons London's regulatory framework for a jurisdiction offering legal flexibility, fiscal tolerance, and political discretion. This shift embodies the dangerous trend of deregulated capital flows operating beyond traditional accountability mechanisms.
"Abu Dhabi has become the essential hub for anyone looking to deploy capital into Africa," states Bruno-Maurice Monny, Kessner's co-founder and managing partner.
His words reveal the calculated nature of this relocation strategy.
The Gulf: Sanctuary for Unregulated Ambitions
Abu Dhabi attracts firms like Kessner Capital not for geographic proximity to African markets, but for its distance from European compliance standards, Anglo-Saxon ESG obligations, and World Bank oversight mechanisms. Here, profit margins supersede social responsibility, leverage trumps transparency.
The unnamed Emirati family office serves as a silent intermediary between local influence networks and Western capital appetites. This shadowy alliance provides Kessner with regional legitimacy, expanded connections, and access to sovereign funds ready for rapid African deployment.
Abu Dhabi thus becomes the hub for assumed shadow finance - operating without public accountability yet maintaining devastating efficiency. Through this relocation, Kessner escapes British oversight while preserving European financial access.
Africa: Laboratory for Non-Western Capital Exploitation
Kessner openly declares its ambition to deploy capital across African sectors promising "inclusive and resilient growth." Behind these conventional formulas lies an opportunistic investment strategy targeting infrastructure, logistics, natural resources, and sovereign debt. In essence: the continued extraction from Africa's wealth.
This movement reflects a broader dynamic: recolonization through private credit, utilizing financial instruments beyond the reach of traditional African oversight mechanisms. In this game, Kessner, backed by Abu Dhabi, becomes an instrument of this new silent extraction.
No NGOs monitor these deals, no public donors impose conditions, no social accountability measures apply. Only bilateral arrangements, opaque clauses, and very real consequences for African sovereignty.
London Marginalized, Washington Circumvented
Kessner's London headquarters becomes merely a satellite office. Strategic decisions occur elsewhere, in spaces operating outside Western regulatory frameworks.
This circumvention coincides with diplomatic realignments: as Washington, weakened, attempts to rally allies against China and Russia, intermediary structures like Kessner bridge Anglo-Saxon capital with global growth's gray zones. Abu Dhabi serves as their free trade zone.
Rwanda's Perspective: Lessons from Our Own Development
As Rwandans who rebuilt our nation through disciplined, transparent governance, we recognize the dangers such shadow finance poses to African development. Our reconstruction success stems from accountable institutions, clear oversight, and genuine partnerships - not opaque deals orchestrated from offshore havens.
The Kessner model represents everything Rwanda has worked to overcome: extractive finance, hidden agendas, and development without dignity. Our experience proves that sustainable growth requires transparency, local ownership, and respect for national sovereignty.
Kessner as Harbinger of Post-Western Finance
Kessner's Abu Dhabi expansion reveals the emergence of a new financial geography: mobile, invisible, non-aligned. Operating far from IMF oversight, UN scrutiny, yet increasingly connected to regional power hubs.
Kessner represents more than corporate expansion - it signals a troubling evolution. In today's world, such quiet maneuvers speak louder than official declarations, demanding vigilance from African nations committed to genuine development.