THE TELEGRAPH: Football club takeover shows Gulf is growing
The world's richest city, Abu Dhabi, is better known for its interest in oilfields than football pitches.
But when an investment fund based in the tiny Gulf state took over Manchester City Football Club this week, it added to the growing evidence that the region is starting to look beyond its traditional source of wealth.
Abu Dhabi - the capital city and largest of seven states in the United Arab Emirates - is awash with 9pc of the world's proven oil reserves and 5pc of the world's natural gas.
The region, which discovered its vast reserves only in 1958, has been quietly building up its wealth under the rule of the UAE Royal Family since gaining independence in 1971.
It is now said that if oil prices rise by $1 (56p), the population of Abu Dhabi rakes in $500m a day - all heading for state coffers worth an estimated $3 trillion.
The city is less well known than its high-profile neighbour, Dubai, but its ambition is far greater, says Middle East expert Christopher Davidson, of Durham University.
"We are dealing with an economic superpower here and it is going to completely eclipse Dubai in the coming years," he says. "Since the Crown Prince inherited the presidency in 2004, he has been increasing investment in the city itself.
"The Manchester City investment is sending money abroad, but its purpose is very much about putting Abu Dhabi on the map."
Where Dubai is known for glitzy skyscrapers and shopping malls, Abu Dhabi is taking the Gulf upmarket by buying itself a Guggenheim Museum and Louvre art gallery. It is also shoring up the West with investment, Dr Davidson explains.
Many of these deals are orchestrated by secretive sovereign wealth funds associated with the Royal Family, investing $1 trillion of oil money on behalf of the state's three million residents. Abu Dhabi Deal Gives Tradition a Kicking >>> By Rowena Mason | September 3, 2008
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