Tony Blair Associates
Tony Blair Associates is an organisation set up by Tony Blair that allows him, in collaboration with others, to provide both commercial and pro bono advice to governments.
The organisation is thought to be based on Henry Kissinger Associates, set up by former American security advisor and security of state, Henry Kissinger.[1]
Contents
What they claim to do
According to the website:
- "We work with governments on the path of reform providing advice and support on key areas of governance, modernisation and implementation".
- "We provide geopolitical and strategic advice to multinational corporations".
- "We bring together institutional investors with potential investment opportunities".
- "Tony Blair's commercial activities provide important funding for his philanthropic work".[2]
What the critics say
Despite Blair claiming he nudges the governments on the path of reform, many believe it highlights his lack of moral fibre and allows him to clock up millions of pounds in consultancy fees by working with countries that others refuse to.[1]
Affiliates
The money earned by Tony Blair Associates is used to subsidise Blair's philanthropic work. He has four main companies; The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which promotes dialogue among faiths; The Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, which continues the work of his commission for Africa set up before Britain’s G8 presidency in 2005; The Tony Blair Sports Foundation, which helps aspiring young sportspeople in the north-east of England; and Breaking the Deadlock, a foundation that tackles climate change.[3][4]
Finances
The complex web that Blair has woven with his businesses makes it extremely hard to know how much money Blair has earned, so much so that the Guardian newspaper sent out an open invitation to tax specialists and accountants to attempt to shed some light on it.[5]
It is estimated that Tony Blair Associates has earned more than $70m since 2007, however Blair insists that all profits from the company go into his charities. He also insists he pays all of his taxes in Britain.[4]
Blair claims that his business model is simple and the only purpose for the complex web of companies absorbed under a private trust is to stop vindictive journalists from prying into his affairs.[4]
Kazakhstan
In 2014 it was reported that Blair had been giving the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, advice on how to manage his image after the slaughter of unarmed civilians protesting against his regime. In 2011, the Telegraph obtained a letter from Blair to Nazarbayev where he told the president that the deaths of 14 protesters, “tragic though they were, should not obscure the enormous progress” his country had made. Blair then went on to suggest paragraphs that Nazarbayev should include in his 2012 speech at the University of Cambridge.[6]
Egypt
In July 2014 the Guardian reported that Blair, via Tony Blair Associates, had agreed to advise the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who came to power in a military coup last year, 'as part of a programme funded by the United Arab Emirates that has promised to deliver huge business opportunities to those involved'. During the military coup that allowed Sisi to come to power, it is estimated he killed more than 2,500 protesters and jailed more than 20,000 over the past year. It was believed that Blair would be giving advice on economic reform to Sisi in collaboration with a UAE-financed taskforce in Cairo. The taskforce is being run by management consultancy Strategy&, formerly Booz and Co, now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers, with the aim of attracting investment into Egypt's crisis-ridden economy at a forthcoming Egypt donors' conference sponsored by oil rich countries UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.[7]
After the article was published, Blair dismissed the news as "nonsense", saying that it is important for the region that Egypt succeeds in reforming itself. Conversely, a spokesperson for Tony Blair Associates told the Guardian Blair will be giving advice and will have meetings but that is all, he will not be looking at any business opportunities in Egypt or make any personal gain and his organisations will not make any money out of the advisory position.[8]
Africa
Between 2011 and 2013 Blair visited Guinea at least seven times, working as an adviser to the president of Guinea, Alpha Conde. He helped Guinea sign a £3 billion mining deal with Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi investment fund, a company which Blair also advises.[9]
Through his African Governance Initiative, Blair provides pro bono advice to Sierra Leone, Guinea, Rwanda, Liberia, Malawi and South Sudan. There have been questions about conflicts of interests of this pro bono work, such as does his influence in Guinea give him influence to push through deals in the interests of his commercials associates, such as the bank JPMorgan Chase or Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska?[4]
Azerbaijan
Blair was hired to advise a BP-led consortium on the export of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe. He will join former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and the chairman of Goldman Sachs International, Peter Sutherland, (also a former chairman of BP), on an advisory panel set up by BP and its partners.
The consortium will be developing Shah Deniz 2, a natural gasfield in the Caspian Sea, with the aim of reducing the reliance on Russian supplies. The gas will be shipped through two pipelines, Tanap which will run the length of Turkey and TAP running to Italy via Greece and Albania. The project will cost $45 billion and is backed by the EU.[10]
Contact
- Email: info@tonyblairassociates.com
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nicholas Watt How Tony Blair paved way for first visit by serving British PM to Kazakhstan The Guardian, 30 June 2013, accessed 2 February 2015
- ↑ Tony Blair Office, Tony Blair Associates], accessed 3 February 2015
- ↑ Nicholas Watt Tony Blair's empire mixes business and philanthropy The Guardian, 21 June 2013, accessed 3 February 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Africa Report Lobbying in Africa: Nightmare on K street, 28 November 2014, accessed 3 February 2015
- ↑ David Leigh and Ian Griffiths The mystery of Tony Blair's finances Guardian, 1 December 2009, accessed 4 February 2015
- ↑ Robert Mendick Tony Blair gives Kazakhstan’s autocratic president tips on how to defend a massacre Telegraph, 24 August 2014, accessed 4 February 2015
- ↑ Seumas Milne Tony Blair to advise Egypt president Sisi on economic reform The Guardian, 2 July 2014, accessed 3 February 2015
- ↑ Haaretz, Tony Blair denies he signed on as Egyptian president's adviser, 3 July 2014, accessed 3 February 2015
- ↑ Robert Mendick Tony Blair and the Africa mine deal Telegraph, 15 December 2013, accessed 4 February 2015
- ↑ Guy Chazan Tony Blair to advise on Azerbaijan gas project Financial Times, 17 July 2014, accessed 4 February 2015
