Bye Bye Abu Ghazaleh !

Last week I was passing by Abu Ghazaleh headquarters in Abdali only to see few workers removing the logo off the building, by then I came to realize that Abu Ghazaleh Group has lost the battle against Al Hariri Sons in which Amman Municipality became a party.

To put it briefly, the Jordanian Government supports Al Abdali Project for the sons of the late Rafik Al-Hariri, the latter intend to tear down the historical Abdali and rebuild it in the form of complexes, exhibition centers, malls, and theater houses similar to Lebanon’s Solidaire, however Abu Ghazaleh headquarters and its prominent businessman Talal Abu Ghazaleh became an obstacle in the face of the project even though Talal is less powerful and financially capable than his opponent, the sons of Al Hariri. Unluckily for Talal Abu Ghazaleh, he founded his companies years ago in the Abdali City. The headquarters of Abu Ghazaleh Group features four buildings and their facilities, all located on one of the edges of Al-Abdali Project.

What was required from Talal Abu Ghazaleh back then was clear: vacate the place so that his headquarters are torn down and annexed to the area, for a price of course, however the latter refused and declared a war against Amman Municipality and Al Hariri Sons, the war became up close and personal when Abu Ghazaleh reportedly asked Shaikh Baha’ Al Hariri if he is willing to sell his land in Koreitim/Lebanon for the same price, and Al Hariri refused saying he wouldn’t sell his birthplace, to which and Abu Ghazaleh replied “me neither, Al Abdali is my birthplace!”.

Anyone that would read the last paragraph may become supportive to Talal Abu Ghazaleh, but that is not the big picture.

Rumors suggest the battle with Abu Ghazaleh was all about the money; Al Hariri sons didn’t pay Talal Abu Ghazaleh enough and therefore Abu Ghazaleh had to stand up and fight. The problem with Abu Ghazaleh Group is they were fighting a losing battle, or at least this is how it looks today. The truth is: it is in the best interest of Amman to have a modern new Abdali with the fantastic beautiful buildings Al Abdali Project promises to deliver, Al Hariri Sons tore down mid Bairot and made Solidaire, they will do the same for Abdali and Abu Ghazaleh buildings are/were too small to occupy this significant location.

This is what really matters, it is not who owns the location at the end of the day, be it the government, Abu Ghazaleh, or Al Hariri, what the owner will do with this location is really what matters, obviously Al Hariri Sons will give more to Jordan through owning this land than Abu Ghazaleh!

Jordan is opening for a new era, foreign investments are flooding into the country and unfortunately a lot of people are too shortsighted to see what lies beneath, let’s face it; we are a poor country with limited resources, according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) our GDP per capita is less than USD 4.8K comparing to USD 5.5K for Egypt, USD 11.3K for Lebanon, USD 23K for Saudi Arabia, USD 80K for Qatar, and even USD 25K for Israel, the only countries around us whose citizens make less GDP than ours are subject, or part of, political instability, like Syria and Iraq, we faced declining growth rates as per the UN reports during 2004 and to 2006. We are a poor country and we must digest that to deal with it. Abu Ghazaleh case is not an exception, the government gives business to whoever gives back more value to the country, we don’t have many millionaires who are willing to invest in huge project like Al Abdali after all.

On a second note, Al Hariri sons, of course, are not doing this for the nice color of our eyes, they are businessmen and are looking to return the money they have invested in Al Abdali, but why do we care? If they are doing a good job for us then they must be rewarded, ever wondered why almost all governmental, or semi-governmental, companies in Jordan that were privatized in last ten years grew more revenues and profits after privatization? Not to mention the quality of service and support private companies are obliged to offer in order to satisfy customers and sell more.

I was one of those who did follow the battle between these fighting parties and for some time I thought Abu Ghazaleh Group was going to win, perhaps in another Gulf rich and prosper country, but here we are passing through desperate times that require desperate measures, Abu Ghazaleh used the pin to fight, the government used the sword, and we all thought that the pin is mightier than the sword, but it turned out that money is the mightiest of all.