British public funds linked to Abu Dhabi firms
The Guardian newspaper has revealed that companies controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of the UAE and owner of Manchester City, received loans totaling £55 million from British public funds in 2017 to finance the "Manchester Life" project, which aims to build 6,000 homes in the city. This issue raises questions about the transparency of public funding management and the standards applied when granting loans to investment groups connected to Emirati officials, especially as the property financing system has significantly benefited from Abu Dhabi United, which received about 97% of the investments from the Greater Manchester Fund funded by taxpayers’ money. The report also criticizes the opacity of beneficiary selection procedures, the lack of necessary scrutiny, and meetings between municipal officials and Manchester City representatives prior to approval of the funding, all of which fuel concerns about Emirati influence and the lack of transparency in the allocation of public funds.
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