BCL saga, page-58

D...unfortunately, short answer is no.

Still on the no smoke without fire idea I think something positive will come out of the wash up, maybe Dubai, but is my hip pocket talking? Hope not.

Not much info lately, but thought I might mention a worry I have because the article (much referred to) in Weekend Post by Rearabilwe Ramaphane 20 Feb 2017 "Dubai tycoons to pump P3 billion into BCL..."and other articles including" Why EIH wants BCL" (Patriot 7 March) showing the pic of two Arabian gentlemen as "A well-resourced family from the UAE based in Abu Dhabi" is not in fact as claimed Abdulla Mangoosh, founder and chair of Emirates House Group, but is in reality a pic of Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Khalifa al- Thani or S Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to the left, and the famous former Qatar pm (HBJ) Hammad bin Jassim (who is said to have more money than just about anybody but whose influence may be ebbing) to the right, or so I understand.
The Qatar sovereign wealth fund ( Qatar Investment Authority) stands behind Qatar Holdings who -interestingly own 16% of Barclay's Bank (bought for $10.5B)- whilst Emirates House Group is said to be backed by the UAE sov wealth fund or similar. The older man pictured in the "Latest African News" article of March 11, 2017 ("Who exactly is selling BCL") is more than likely Abdulla Mangoosh of EHG. To say both groups are well resourced is an understatement.

The only reason I mention these mis-reportings is that -without being pedantic - if the papers cannot get such basic stuff right, then how much faith can we have in any of their reportings? I am confident EHG is the one we are dealing with, but better BCL/KPMG/Botswana are indeed dealing with EHG, as the consensus on Qatar is that they drive the hardest deal outcomes imaginable.

Have a nice day.