Lebanon’s investigation of the deadly explosion that shook Beirut in August has suffered setbacks with political tensions building after the indictment of the country’s top sitting Sunni official.
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, one of four senior politicians indicted last week in connection to the August 4 blast that killed over 200 people, has refused to co-operate with the judge leading the investigation, arguing that the judicial order violated the law.
On Monday, Judge Fadi Sawan rescheduled the questioning sessions for Mr Diab and three other former ministers who were charged with criminal negligence in connection to the blast, which involved the explosion of around 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that have been stockpiled at Beirut port for over six years.
Judge Sawan set Mr Diab’s new questioning session for Friday morning while former Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, and ex-ministers of Public Works and Transport Youssef Fenianos and Ghazi Zeaiter, have been summoned for questioning on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday respectively.
Mr Zeaiter’s brother-in-law, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, stepped down on Monday from his role as prosecutor in the case, the National News Agency reported.
The charges against Mr Diab fuelled long-simmering tensions between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, who labelled the indictment an “attack” on the post of prime minister, a position reserved for Sunnis under Lebanon's unwritten confessional power-sharing system.
Hariri’s Future Movement said the investigation was being exploited to settle political scores and accused Mr Aoun of seeking to undermine the Taif Accord, the agreement that ended the country’s 15-year civil war. The accord introduced key amendments to the constitution, marking a shift in the power balance from the presidency, a post reserved for Christians, to the council of ministers.
Following Mr Diab’s indictment, Mr Hariri spearheaded a campaign in solidarity with the caretaker PM. Mr Hariri was joined by Lebanon’s top Sunni religious leader, Mufti Abdul Latif Derian, and former prime ministers Najib Mikati and Fouad Siniora.
Mr Mikati and Mr Siniora said the charges were politically driven and violated the constitution, which shield officials against prosecution for decisions made in their line of work.
The recent charges, however, could set a precedent for judges to prosecute former and current ministers accused of wrongdoing, legal experts argue.
The latest developments appeared to further complicate negotiations over the formation of a Cabinet before a visit by French President Emanuel Macron to Lebanon next week.
On Monday, Mr Hariri accused the president and the Free Patriotic Movement of obstructing the Cabinet formation by demanding over a third of the seats and consequently the power to veto key government resolutions.
Mr Macron has repeatedly called on the country’s political leaders to form a “credible” government that commits to fighting corruption in exchange for billions of dollars in financial aid from the international community.
But his calls fell on deaf ears. After months of political bickering, Mr Hariri failed to secure the approval of the president on a cabinet line-up of non-partisan experts he proposed last week. The president retaliated with a counterproposal that brought negotiations back to square one, insisting that Mr Hariri consults with all political parties on the Cabinet make-up.
Mr Aoun also denied interfering in the investigation into the blast, which forced the resignation of Mr Diab's government.
The blast injured 6,000 people, displaced 300,000 families and caused an estimated 15 billion dollars in damages, further exacerbating Lebanon's economic woes.
The World Bank has recently warned that over half of the country’s population will fall into poverty by 2021 if no reforms are undertaken.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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.”
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
From exhibitions to the battlefield
In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.
It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.
It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.
It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
