ABSTRACT
By the start of the 1970s, the Lonrho entrepreneur Roland Walter (‘Tiny’) Rowland was looking for ways of expanding his Lonhro conglomerate beyond its unspectacular beginnings in Central Africa and its first successful foray into Europe under his leadership. The inspiration came from a personal friend, and director of Gulf International WLL, Kuwait (which subsequently became a shareholder in Lonrho) Dr Khalil Osman Mahmoud. He was a Sudanese who had made his fortune in Kuwait and become close to the Kuwaiti royal family. He had established with Sheikh Nasser Al Sabah and his brother Sheikh Hamed, two nephews of the ruler, a powerful investment company, Gulf International, of which he was Managing Director. Gulf, which has no connection with the US oil giant, had interests worldwide in Nigeria, Liberia, Lebanon, Somalia, Malagasy, Australia and the United States of America.
