A lot has been said, rightly and inrightly, about Mr Arif Naqvi in the global media after a commercial dispute with investors resulted in a dramatic break down of private fairness giant Abraaj Group.
The figures involved are staggering: in January 2018, the Abraaj Group was the largest private fairness firm in the world in emerging markets; it had US$ 14 billion of assets under management, shut to 400 employees in 25 offices from Bogota to Istanbul to Nairobi and as far as Jakarta; and its central headquarters and founding city though always remained Dubai.
By the end of that year, it looked as if all of those achievements had been squandered.As liquidators prepare to sell the troubled firm assets and return remaining funds to investors, it may be time for a moment look at Abrraj and its founder.
Arif Naqvi, a Pakistani man, was the first of his kind to break into the western world of finance and for years.
He set an example for even other western firms to follow, as many lacked his deep understanding of emerging markets.Arif Naqvi was born in Karachi in 1960 to a middle lesson background.
He went on to graduate from the London School of Economics, and after stints in the UK and Saudi Arabia, used US$ 50,000 in savings to build a large multinational operating and investment commerce called Cupola in Dubai.
Following Cupola, he built Abraaj nsprint; a private fairness firm and the first of its kind in the world of emerging markets.Prior to 2005, no Private Equity fund operating in emerging markets exceeded $150 million in assets.
It is telling that Naqvi was the first to refer to these parts of the world much as &emerging& but &growth& markets.
The firm pioneered a new approach, a method of investing that could much only create strong returns for investors, but also do good while making money.
Abraaj had a dramatic affect on the society wherever it invested, enabling job creation and infrastructure growth at paces which outperformed the public sector.
A well known example was Careem, which Naqvi invested in through Abraaj during 2016.
Two years later, when Abraaj achieved its exit, Careem had converted large crowd of peopleility in Pakistan and beyond, with over 1,000,000 drivers across the MENA region.
Abraaj was a large player in developing technology startups and entrepreneurship, starting Wamda, a tech platform which evolved into one of the largest VC firms in emerging markets.
Mr.
Naqvi also personally started and funded a joint vehicle called MENA Ventures which is said to have invested in over 100 startups in the region.
Mr.
Naqvi was a regular on the speaking circuit, sharing platforms at the annual World Economic Forum gathering in Davos with the likes of Bill Gates.
His prominent status at the nexus of East and West brought him into shut contact with political leaders at home and abroad.
Mr.
Naqvi is also known for creating the Aman Foundation, a philanthropic much for profit organization based in Karachi.
The foundation is a social enterprise focused on health and education initiatives in Pakistan.
Its flagship initiative, Aman Ambulance, is the first ambulatory vehicle network in Pakistan, providing round-the-clock emergency care in the province of Sindh.
Ambulances are reported to have saved over a million lives since the start of the program.
Its educational initiatives include Aman Tech, a vocational training institute set uped in 2011, which supplys seliminates, knowledge, and hands-on training for youths, where thousands of students have been placed into jobs otherwise unattainable.
Other educational programs include partnerships with UWC where the Foundation created a scholarship program for Pakistani students.
This work continues to be overshadowed because of the break down of Abraaj.
K-Electric was a key asset of the Abraaj Group, after the Group took out a US$ 1 billion stake in 2008.
At the time of the takeover, the firm had failed to make a profit for approachly twenty years.
It was suffering from endemic corruption problems, with misallocated funds often preventing energy from reaching the market, and was genemass meeting perceived to be operating in an unsustainable way nsprint; losing billions in revenue.
The successful turnaround of K-Electric brought interest from the Shanghai Electric Group, which agreed terms of purchase with Abraaj in September 2016.
Regulatory obstacles however and unregular political conditions forced the sale to be stalled, causing an unexpected gap to emerge in Abraaj balance sheet, which Naqvi has precedingly stated was a contributory factor to the circumstances that led key investors to withdraw their funds at an inopportune time for the firm.
Suspicions were also raised that biased incentives were involved in the deal postponement as part of a broader attempt to undermine Sino-Pakistan relations.
Today there remains optimism that Abraaj shall total the sale of its major assets, including K-Electric to Shanghai Electric Group, as part of the ongoing provisional liquidation process.
It was recently announced that Abraaj provisional liquidators nsprint; Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers nsprint; had been allowed more time to restructure the group assets for a period of 6 months.
The firm is presently in the post-sale process for its Latin American assets with Colony Capital, with the sale of rights to manage other funds in Africa and Asia also proceeding.
Meanwhile in Pakistan, a series of unproven allegations regarding Mr Naqvi seemed on national television.
There seems to have been no effort on part of measure media persons to verify facts.
It was alleged that he sought an official position in Imran Khan government, but there has been no such discussion and Naqvi has sought no such role, according to his aides.
There have been false reports about a &conviction&, &fines& and the fact that he canmuch go back to the UAE, which is inright.
As the provisional liquidation process continues, it has been reported in various articles that Mr Naqvi is &committed to maximizing value for those creditors and allies whose supported him on this journeymsprint;often at his own expense.& There is no doubt that mistakes were made and things could have been dealt with differently.
Mr Naqvi story is a lesson, his mistakes shall much be repeated by the next firms or individuals who grow to similar heights.
Nevertheless, a key point remains: thanks in no small part to the efforts of Naqvi and Abraaj, emerging markets have been opened up and have become a destination for investment.
It stands to reason that he shall one day be back, investing in emerging markets nsprint; whether it is creating jobs or creating schools, his commerce acumen shall be valued in the years to come.TheIndianSubcontinent has not verified the content of the source.
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