Susa, Libya’s north-eastern coastal town that was once a tourist destination of scenic landscapes and Greek artefacts, is now a ghost town.
Located 75km west of flood-hit Derna, this outlying town is one of many that lies in ruins.
Many of its houses are submerged in water while its infrastructure has been washed away by Storm Daniel, which reportedly killed at least 11,000 Libyans, with thousands more missing.
With the main roads that link the town to nearby cities either completely destroyed or buried beneath flood waters and mud, Susa stands isolated. Rescue teams and aid deliveries are struggling to reach the 8,000 people stranded in the town in desperate need.
Oil-rich Libya has been mired in conflict for over a decade, leaving its infrastructure unprepared for the destructive storm which tore apart its north-eastern regions on Monday.
Dams that were in dire need of maintenance failed to withstand the flash floods, exploding from the massive pressure of water and mud.
By some estimates, the wave of water and debris was seven metres high as it crashed through the wadi, or dried river bed, before smashing into Derna and destroying about a quarter of the city of 90,000.
But while that city’s destruction has focused the world on Libya’s tragedy, many more outlying towns and villages like Susa are in distress.
According to a volunteer in the Red Crescent, who asked not to be named, there are already 17 confirmed deaths in Susa, “but this tally is far from being final. There are many more”.
The journey from Derna to Susa normally takes less than an hour. Now access is only possible through side roads that cut through winding and steep mountainous areas.
“Derna’s calamity is too grave, no one has taken note of ours,” Susa’s head of municipality Wael Ebriq told The National.
“Bodies of those who have drowned in the flash floods and been washed away are still waiting to be salvaged by rescue teams. We are in desperate need of aid.”
Three days after the storm, the area has received no aid, Mr Ebriq said. “We’ve received nothing. May Allah help us,” he added.
Even before entering the town, the destruction is palpable. Furniture, vehicles and parts of buildings are strewn everywhere. Once in Susa, stores are closed, streets deserted and there is a sense of fear and abandonment.
Fathi Omar Al Darsi paced outside his collapsed house and roamed the streets of Susa on Tuesday in search of his three daughters and son.
Crushed, hopeless and worn out, his words were few. “We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return,” he said. His tears flowed when asked about his wife, before he knelt to remove a pile of mud to clear his driveway.
Until Wednesday afternoon, ambulance services were still unable to reach the devastated town because of the blocked roads. One official said about 1,000 houses in Susa were completely submerged in water, warning of a humanitarian crisis in the flood-hit town and calling for immediate assistance.
Mohamed Mojawer of the Red Cresent told The National that the first aid deliveries finally arrived in Susa on Wednesday afternoon, giving residents their first access to drinkable water since the storm destroyed the town’s treatment station.
“The situation here is catastrophic, but we’re doing all that we can,” he said.
This story is published in collaboration with Egab
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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.”
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