LONDON // Britain has officially recognised Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government, and expelled all diplomats from Col Muammar Qaddafi's regime yesterday.
Britain is unfreezing £91 million (Dh547m) of Libyan oil assets to help the National Transitional Council, which the UK now recognises as "the sole governmental authority in Libya," said the foreign secretary, William Hague.
The council had been invited to send an ambassador to London, Mr Hague said, adding that "we will deal with the National Transitional Council on the same basis as other governments around the world."
The Libyan charge d'affaires was summoned yesterday morning and informed that he must leave the country within three days, the Foreign Office said. A government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official policies, said the seven other remaining diplomats were being given more time in case they wanted to defect.
Britain's diplomatic moves implement a decision made at a July 15 meeting in Istanbul during which the US, Britain and 30 other nations recognised Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government
A popular uprising seeking to oust Colonel Qaddafi broke out in February, but the front lines in the civil war have remained largely stagnant since then. Rebels, backed by Nato air bombings, control much of the country's east and pockets in the west. But Colonel Qaddafi controls the rest from his stronghold in Tripoli, the capital.
Britain is one of the leading participants in the Nato-led campaign, but the government has been under pressure over its failure to remove Colonel Qaddafi from power.
Libya's rebels saluted Britain's decision. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the head of the rebels' council, said Britain's recognition "gives us a political and economic boost."
"We will try through this recognition to get our frozen assets," Mr Abdul Jalil told a news conference in the rebel capital of Benghazi in eastern Libya. "This means Qaddafi and his followers are no longer legitimate."
This week, Mr Hague said for the first time that Colonel Qaddafi might be able to remain in Libya as long as he is not in power. He said that "Qaddafi is going to have to abandon power, all military and civil responsibility," but "what happens to Qaddafi is ultimately a question for the Libyans."
France and the United States have made similar suggestions.
Mr Hague denied there was a stalemate in Libya. "We will see this through to success, however long it takes," he said. "Time is not on the side of the Qaddafi regime."
A handful of demonstrators gathered outside the embassy in London, with a rebel banner, heckling the diplomats inside and threatening to climb onto the balcony and tear down Qaddafi's green flag. They were dispersed by police, who stood guard outside the four-story building across from Hyde Park.
Abdelatif Kleisa, a Libyan émigré now living in Sheffield, was among the demonstrators. He said any defections would be welcome, but that the defectors themselves wouldn't be treated as heroes.
"It's too late for them to defect," said Mr Kleisa, 48, a businessman, who wore a rebel flag badge over his heart. Asked if any of the diplomats could win a place in the rebel movement, he let out an expletive.
"No way," he said. "They have to get normal jobs like anyone else. We struggled for 42 years. Now it's their turn to struggle."
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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.”
