Libya set for US$5bn payout from Italy

The Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi apologised to Libya yesterday for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signed a US$5bn (Dh18.36bn) investment deal by way of compensation. Mr Berlusconi made the apology during a visit to the Mediterranean city of Benghazi where he had a meeting with Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi to seal a cooperation accord with the north African nation.
"It is my duty, as a head of government, to express to you in the name of the Italian people our regret and apologies for the deep wounds that we have caused you," said Mr Berlusconi, whose comments were translated into Arabic. He and Mr Gaddafi then signed a "friendship and cooperation agreement" aimed at recompensing Libya for damage incurred during the colonial era. "The accord will provide for $200m a year over the next 25 years through investments in infrastructure projects in Libya," Mr Berlusconi said.
"This agreement should put an end to 40 years of discord. It is a concrete and moral acknowledgement of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era," he said. The signing ceremony took place in the garden of a palace occupied by the Italian governor in colonial times. In a symbolic gesture, Mr Berlusconi then bowed before the son of the hero of Libyan resistance against the Italian occupiers, Omar Mokhtar.
"This is an historic moment when two brave men acknowledge the defeat of colonialism," Mr Gaddafi said, raising his arms in a sign of victory. "The Libyan people endured injustice and were attacked in their homes and they deserve an apology and compensation," he added. Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Libya was occupied by Italy in 1911 before becoming a colony in the 1930s. The country gained its independence in 1951 after a brief period under a UN-mandated Franco-British administration.
Italy and Libya have spent years negotiating a wide-ranging treaty to cover compensation for Rome's military occupation and colonisation. An association representing Italians expelled from Libya in 1970 denounced Rome in a statement yesterday for compensating Libya and not repatriated Italians. It said Mr Berlusconi should have "a sudden burst of dignity, humanity and respect so as to finally give satisfaction... to the 20,000 Italian citizens who are still waiting for fair compensation from their government." The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to follow in Mr Berlusconi's footsteps next week, for the first visit by such a high-ranking US official to Libya since 1953. Mr Berlusconi, on his second trip to Libya since June, said that among the major projects to be financed by Italy will be a coastal motorway from the Tunisian border to Egypt. Rome will also fund house construction, scholarships for Libyan students to study in Italy and pensions for those mutilated by land mines laid by the Italian military. The agreement will also cover cooperation on the fight against illegal immigration, which Mr Berlusconi termed a battle "against slave traders." Funding for the coastal motorway, which was previously estimated to cost ?3bn, was promised by Mr Berlusconi on a visit to Tripoli in 2004, when he headed a previous administration. When the two leaders met in June, Mr Berlusconi was pushing for the rapid implementation of a December 2007 accord on joint maritime patrols to curtail the flow of thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa to Europe. Italian shores, especially the small island of Lampedusa south of Sicily, are a favourite destination for those making the crossing from North Africa in the hope of a new life in Europe, despite the perilous journey. Yesterday, Italy returned a Roman statue of the goddess Venus, dating back to the second century, which was found in 1913 by Italian troops near the ruins of the Greek and Roman settlement of Cyrene, on the Libyan coast. Mr Berlusconi's visit to Benghazi, 1,000km east of Tripoli, coincides with the anniversary of the coup that brought Mr Kadhafi to power on Sept 1 1969. * AFP

DUBAI WORLD CUP RACE CARD

6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m

7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m

7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m

8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m

9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m

10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m

The National selections

6.30pm Well Of Wisdom

7.05pm Summrghand

7.40pm Laser Show

8.15pm Angel Alexander

8.50pm Benbatl

9.25pm Art Du Val

10pm: Beyond Reason

MATCH RESULT

Liverpool 4 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Liverpool: Salah (26'), Lovren (40'), Solanke (53'), Robertson (85')

Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

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.”