TRIPOLI // It was a clear winter evening in the Libyan capital, and in an upmarket coffee shop near the waterfront, a birthday party was underway.
A dozen guests - Libyan, British, Filipino - were dividing a chocolate cake at Caffè Casa and wishing happy birthday in various languages to a Libyan named Mohamed.
"A few weeks ago, most of us didn't know one another," said Rodwan al Ejlase, 21, a Libyan student who organised the party. "But we all go to this café, and now we're friends."
The scene embodied Libyan hopes for prosperity at home and friendships abroad as the country emerges from years of isolation. But while economic opening has raised living standards, slow-moving bureaucracy and political vagaries still hamper development.
A half-century ago, the country that the Roman poet Horace called "the arid nurse of lions" became a playground for foreign oil companies under the pro-western King Idris. In 1969, the king was toppled by Libya's current leader, Moammar Qadafi, then an army captain, who erected a system of committees with himself as "brother leader and guide of the revolution".
Out went foreign firms and in came a state-led economy. Meanwhile, Libyan backing for militant groups ultimately brought international sanctions.
In 1999, Libya surrendered suspects in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, starting rapprochement with the West that saw all sanctions lifted by 2004. The same year, private enterprise was formally reinstated.
"You could feel the country opening up," Mr al Ejlase recalled. Inspired by an artist sister, he now studies internet design at Tripoli's Al Fateh University and works part-time for a state building company.
The birthday party progressed raucously; someone smeared chocolate frosting on Mohamed's nose as a joke. In the background, an Egyptian waiter named Amr was collecting empty coffee mugs.
One of tens of thousands of immigrants who increasingly do Libya's menial jobs, Amr, 30, makes 550 Libyan dinars (Dh1,600) a month, sending around a quarter to his widowed mother in Cairo.
"There's money to be made in Libya, especially in anything related to tourism," he said.
A trickle of foreign visitors are discovering Libya, while Libyans themselves are rediscovering leisure after years of austerity.
Libya's private sector, however, remains dwarfed by state companies and the state-controlled oil sector.
The government wants to boost private enterprise and considers the country a potential commercial hub, said Rajab Khalil, assistant chairman of Libya's official privatisation and investment board. "We're in a prime position to play middle-man between Europe and Africa."
The government has recently streamlined regulations and opened one-stop-shop business licensing offices in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya's largest cities.
While such innovations have helped, public offices that provide many of Libya's work contracts remain crippled by too few staff and too much corruption, said Jamal Abeida, a private management consultant based in Benghazi.
Libyan authorities recently froze spending on major projects to assess where the money was going. Mr Abeida said that private sector leaders should play a greater role in crafting development policy.
For now, Libya lacks a clear growth strategy, said John Hamilton, a Libya expert at Cross-Border Information, a British risk analysis firm.
One example is recent state funding for hotel and airport projects, Mr Hamilton said, noting Libya's strict visa requirements. "Who will fly into these airports? Who will stay in these hotels?"
A few hundred yards from hotel complexes on Tripoli's waterfront, street vendors lay out their goods among potholes and crumbling buildings.
Jackhammers echo from above as workmen shorten tower blocks whose owners exceeded height regulations, according to local residents.
"Maybe next year this street will be beautiful," said Fadel, a taxi driver taking a break between fares. "Things are moving, but it's step-by-step."
That stop-and-go progress is mirrored in Libya's oil sector. While some foreign firms are exploring Libya, stringent contracts and failure to make discoveries are prompting others to leave.
The economy is also subject to diplomatic turmoil, such as a row this year with Switzerland that spiralled into a two-month visa ban for nationals of 25 European countries.
"Without rule of law, independent judiciary, developed media and separation of powers, you cannot realise other objectives," said Youssef Sawani, the director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, a non-profit organisation that was set up by Mr Qadafi's reform-minded son, Saif al Islam.
An annual report last week by the foundation accused Libya's government of meddling - sometimes illegally - with trade unions and professional associations, and called for new laws allowing more media freedom.
While a 2008 initiative by Saif al Islam Qadafi to draft a constitution has yet to bear fruit, Mr Sawani said that the government has adopted new business and labour regulations proposed by the Gaddafi Foundation.
At Caffè Casa, Mr al Ejlase was mulling his prospects of building a career after graduation.
"I think I have a pretty good chance, but I don't really know what to expect," he said. "Everything depends."
jthorne@thenational.ae
The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Breast cancer in men: the facts
1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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.
Griselda
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
Premier League results
Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1
Bournemouth 0 Manchester City 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Huddersfield Town 0
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3
Manchester United 3 Southampton 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Cardiff City 0
West Ham United 2 Newcastle United 0
Sunday
Watford 2 Leicester City 1
Fulham 1 Chelsea 2
Everton 0 Liverpool 0
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Brief scores:
Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf
Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)
Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17
Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)
Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40
Ferrari
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Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
RESULT
Wolves 1 (Traore 67')
Tottenham 2 (Moura 8', Vertonghen 90 1')
Man of the Match: Adama Traore (Wolves)
