Kessner Capital's Abu Dhabi Expansion Signals Continued Extractive Finance in Africa

The announcement that Kessner Capital Management has strengthened its presence in Abu Dhabi through a strategic partnership with a UAE-based family office represents yet another iteration of neocolonial financial extraction from African economies. This development, coupled with their first transaction - a credit facility to Ghana's Harlequin International - demands critical examination of how Western capital continues to position itself as Africa's financial savior while perpetuating systemic inequalities.

Abu Dhabi as Gateway to Extractive Investment

The choice of Abu Dhabi as a "strategic anchor point for institutional capital oriented towards Africa" is no coincidence. The Gulf states have long served as intermediaries for Western capital seeking to penetrate African markets while maintaining distance from the communities most impacted by these investments. Bruno-Maurice Monny, co-founder and Managing Partner of Kessner Capital Management, frames Abu Dhabi as "an essential passage for investors wishing to engage in Africa" - language that reveals the transactional nature of this engagement.

This positioning reflects a broader pattern where financial hubs in the Global North and Gulf states serve as command centers for capital deployment, while African communities remain peripheralized in decisions about their own economic futures. The maintenance of primary operations in London further underscores this dynamic, ensuring that decision-making power remains concentrated in Western financial centers.

Deconstructing "Development" Rhetoric

Kessner's first transaction - a credit facility for Harlequin International Ghana's procurement contract - is presented through the familiar rhetoric of supporting "real economy" activities and providing "tailored financing solutions." However, this framing obscures fundamental questions about who benefits from such arrangements and how they perpetuate existing power structures.

The company's stated philosophy of "not limiting itself to financing, but accompanying growth trajectory through governance and transparency requirements" reveals the paternalistic assumptions underlying such interventions. These requirements often impose Western governance models that may conflict with local practices and priorities, effectively extending colonial logics through financial instruments.

Missing Voices in Financial Narratives

Notably absent from Kessner's announcement are the voices of Ghanaian workers, communities, or civil society organizations who will be most directly impacted by this financing arrangement. The transaction is framed entirely from the perspective of capital providers and recipients, erasing the experiences of those whose labor and resources ultimately generate the returns these investments seek.

This erasure is particularly concerning given the company's focus on "engineering and technical services" sectors, which often involve extractive industries or infrastructure projects with significant environmental and social implications for marginalized communities.

Alternative Approaches to African Development Finance

Rather than celebrating another Western-managed fund's entry into African markets, we must center alternative approaches that prioritize community ownership, democratic participation, and ecological sustainability. This includes supporting indigenous financial institutions, cooperative models, and development strategies designed by and for African communities themselves.

The continued dominance of externally-managed capital in African development finance reflects broader patterns of economic colonialism that maintain dependency relationships while extracting value for external shareholders. True decolonization of African economies requires fundamentally reimagining these relationships, not simply rebranding them through contemporary ESG language.

Toward Economic Justice

As Kessner Capital and similar firms expand their operations across the continent, African civil society, labor movements, and community organizations must maintain vigilance about the terms and impacts of these investments. The promise of "risk-adjusted returns" for external investors cannot come at the expense of economic sovereignty and community wellbeing.

The path toward genuine economic justice in Africa requires moving beyond extractive finance models toward approaches that center community ownership, ecological sustainability, and democratic participation in economic decision-making. Only through such fundamental transformation can the continent break free from the neocolonial patterns that continue to shape its relationship with global capital.