Egyptian actress Yasmine Sabri divides fans with Covid-19 comments: 'Survival is for the strongest'

Egyptian actress Yasmine Sabri has been criticised for her "survival of the fittest" approach to Covid-19.

The El Diesel actress, 32, was walking the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the El Gouna Film Festival when she was asked about the pandemic by a reporter.

"No, I am not obsessed with fear. I go on with my life," she said when she was asked by MBC Trending if she is scared of the coronavirus.

She then said: "Isn't there a possibility that we were infected with the virus and now it's gone? It's common sense, it's going to infect the whole world."

"Whoever gets it, gets it, and who moves on, moves, and survival is for the strongest," she added.

Jordanian news website Al Bawaba posted an extract of MBC's interview with Sabri on its Instagram page, where some fans criticised the actress for her comments.

"Survival of the fittest? This isn't professional wrestling," wrote one critic.

However, not everyone opposed Sabri's way of thinking.

"I like what she said, it's true to life that only the strongest survive," said one fan, with a second adding: "What she means is people with stronger immune systems will survive, and she's right."

Sabri has not yet responded to the debate on social media.

The fourth annual El Gouna Film Festival is set to run until Saturday, October 31, and will showcase 63 films across five categories.

The event had its opening night on Friday, October 23, with celebrities attending this year’s red carpet. Social distancing was maintained as stars were all kept spaced apart.

Sixteen films will compete in the Feature Narrative Competition, including the festival's opening picture The Man Who Sold His Skin, written and directed by Tunisian filmmaker and scriptwriter Kaouther Ben Hania.

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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.

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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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