Organisers of the first Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi are promising a host of activities for fans. Photo: Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi
Organisers of the first Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi are promising a host of activities for fans. Photo: Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi
Organisers of the first Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi are promising a host of activities for fans. Photo: Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi
Organisers of the first Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi are promising a host of activities for fans. Photo: Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi

Culture

Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi: What to expect from the city's first anime celebration

Concerts, celebrity meet-and-greets and costume competition with large prize pool among highlights of new five-day event later this month

Faisal Salah
Faisal Salah

October 01, 2024

  • English
  • Arabic

Fans of Japanese anime can look forward a five-day celebration of the art form when the Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi takes place later this month.

The inaugural event at Manarat Al Saadiyat begins on October 23 and will include concerts, celebrity meet-and-greets and a costume competition which has a prize pool of Dh400,000.

The festival is being organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. This is what to expect:

Live entertainment

The inaugural Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi will begin on October 23. Photo: Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi
The inaugural Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi will begin on October 23. Photo: Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi

Performances and talks including J-Pop concerts, acrobatic displays and Japanese shows will take place on stage. Musical headliners include Syrian singer-songwriter and cartoon voice actress Rasha Rizk, who is most well known for singing the title song for the Arabic dubbed version of Detective Conan. J-Pop band Flow will also be performing and will be accompanied by Anime singer Mojo and the band Angela.

Japanese singer Yoko Takahashi, who sang the hit song in the classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, is expected to be one of the musical highlights. Her song, A Cruel Angel's Thesis, has received gold and platinum certifications since its release in 1995.

Other live planned performances include breakdancing unit Real Akiba Boyz, American instrumental video game cover band Powerglove and anime-inspired rock bands Blinding Sunrise, Koyomi, Catch Me Yesterday and Snowkel.

Interactive exhibits

Organisers have released this artist's impression of the new event. Photo: Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi
Organisers have released this artist's impression of the new event. Photo: Animenia Festival Abu Dhabi

Attendees will have the chance to be part of their favourite shows in interactive exhibits. Fans will also be able to meet characters like Eren Jaeger from Attack on Titan, Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen and Hello Kitty. Memorable scenes from famous shows will also be recreated for photo opportunities.

Gaming and workshops

A dedicated gaming zone, supported by AD Gaming, will include virtual reality experiences and a Japanese-style arcade of retro games. Fans of small racing cars called Tamiya will also be able to race against each other for prizes. Gundam fans, meanwhile, will be able to build intricate mecha models to take home.

Meet and greets

Naoto Ohshima, one of the original Sonic the Hedgehog designers, will be attending. Photo: Game Developers Conference
Naoto Ohshima, one of the original Sonic the Hedgehog designers, will be attending. Photo: Game Developers Conference

Some of the anime's biggest names will appear in Q&A sessions, with others available for photographs and autographs. Naoto Ohshima, the artist responsible for designing Sonic the Hedgehog, will be there. Others include Yoko Shimomura, the music composer of Kingdom Hearts and Super Mario RPG; Yutaka Abe, who worked on the Detective Conan show and manga series; and Ryo Horikawa, the voice behind popular character Vegeta from Dragon Ball.

Costume competition

The cosplay competition has a prize pool of Dh400,000. Photo: Empics Entertainment
The cosplay competition has a prize pool of Dh400,000. Photo: Empics Entertainment

No anime convention is complete without a sea of people dressed as their favourite characters. The cosplay competitions will be judged in different categories by the likes of Yuegene Fay from Thailand; Rian CYD from Indonesia; Naythero from France; and SayoChuu and SabCosplay from Latvia.

Animenia Abu Dhabi will run at Manarat Al Saadiyat from October 23 to 27. Tickets from Dh65 for one day or Dh425 for five

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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The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors

Power: Combined output 920hp

Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic

Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km

On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025

Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Transmission: ten-speed

Power: 420bhp

Torque: 624Nm

Price: Dh325,125

On sale: Now

Know your Camel lingo

The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home

Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless

Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers

Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s

Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival

PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

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On Women's Day
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The Indo-Pacific
Updated: October 02, 2024, 11:19 AM
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