Former Tunisian presidential candidate Zammel faces up to 35 years in prison

Former Tunisian presidential hopeful Ayachi Zammel could serve a total of 35 years in prison after being handed a sentence of two years and eight months on charges relating to the falsification of voters’ signatures to endorse his candidacy, his lawyer told The National on Tuesday. Mr Zammel, the head of the opposition Azimoun Party, has been detained since September 2 on several electoral fraud charges, namely the forging of voters’ endorsement documents. He has repeatedly denied all accusations and pleaded not-guilty in all of the cases brought against him.

Lawyer Abdessatar Messaoudi said his client now has a cumulative 35-year prison sentence after his conviction in a total of 26 cases – all relating to the falsification of voters’ endorsements – in several First Instance Courts across the country, including in Jendouba, Siliana, Zaghouan, Kairouan and Tunis 2. Tuesday's sentence was handed down by a judge from the Criminal Division of the Manouba First Instance Court.

“We have thought that the issue was going to be all over with the end of the presidential elections but we were taken aback by what we perceive as an escalation after the Manouba Court verdict,” he told The National. Mr Messaoudi said the ruling is an indicator of authorities' intention to further escalate the situation as his client has received only six months for the same case in a court in another governorate.

“If you give him six months [prison sentence] in September and come in October and give him two years for the same case then it could be only understood as escalation, not a way to calm things down,” the lawyer said, adding that such move can be only described as a way to intimidate and eliminate political opponents. “All of these cases are purely political, so that whoever might consider running for president in 2029 and trying to collect [voters’] endorsements will remember that those endorsements could get him 30 to 35 years in jail.”

According to Mr Messaoudi, one of Mr Zammel's former campaign managers, 23 year old Siwar Barguaoui, is also facing a cumulative sentence of at least 20 years over the same endorsements fraud cases. All three of Mr Zammel’s siblings have been also sentenced in absentia to between two to four years in prison in similar cases.

Tunisia’s October 6 presidential race, which resulted in a landslide win for President Kais Saied, who received more than 90 per cent of the votes, has been criticised for perceived unfairness and lack of credibility. Mr Zammel was one of only two candidates permitted to stand against Mr Saied while at least three other high-profile opposition figures were barred from running.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”