Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for February 16, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE.
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Abu Dhabi
Food trucks
Love Food Festival lands in the capital this weekend with 25 top food trucks from the UAE, the UK, USA and Singapore. Enjoy authentic international street-food delicacies including gourmet grilled-cheese sandwiches, traditional Spanish churros and hot chocolate, soft-shelled crab burgers in brioche, creme brulee, authentic Neapolitan pizza, crab mac and cheese, catfish tacos, funnel cakes and even a tapas bar. Plus enjoy cookery demonstrations, live music, a kids’ zone, a Bedouin tent, food film screenings and more.
Daily until Saturday, 5pm to midnight today; 2pm to midnight on Friday and Saturday, Dh50 entry includes Dh5 entrance to Umm Al Emarat Park, Abu Dhabi, www.facebook.com/lovefoodfest
Dubai
Kids’ fun
Visit KidZania and see the newly launched Heritage Village. Children can experience the history and culture of the UAE through activities including pearl hunting, pottery, calligraphy, henna and jewellery threading, in a programme designed to develop creativity and motor skills in a fun, educational way.
Open 10am to 10pm, from Dh150, KidZania, Level 2, The Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai, www.kidzania.ae
Abu Dhabi
Cultural event
As part of the Visit Al Ain programme of events, Memory of the Emirati Song at Al Jahili Fort features young Emirati performers paying tribute to their forefathers with familiar melodies from the 1950s to the 1970s, and, singing by the words of original Emirati poetry.
Tonight, 8pm, Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain, www.visitalain.ae
Abu Dhabi
Parenting class
Register to take part in the Parenting with Passion workshop at Bodytree Studio. The class aims to encourage academic achievement, conflict resolution and problem solving, reduce discipline problems and increase engagement among parents and children.
Saturday, 9am to noon, Dh600; spouses can join for free, Bodytree Studio, Abu Dhabi, 02 443 4448, info@bodytreestudio.com
Abu Dhabi
Concert
Get tickets now for a concert by French-Kuwaiti reggae band Fabrice and the Desert Roots. The show will be opened by special guest Gaïa, during a barbecue evening by the pool presented by Alliance Française Abu Dhabi.
Tomorrow, 8pm, Dh100 for Alliance Française members; Dh120 for non-members, Mercure Abu Dhabi Centre Hotel, Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi, 02 612 2900, www.800tickets.com
Abu Dhabi
Music festival
Buy tickets now for the Abu Dhabi Festival, which runs from March 14 to 31 and features a mix of artists across a variety of genres and nationalities, opening with Saudi singer Mohamed Abdo (pictured). There are also performances by American jazz icon Wynton Marsalis, Portuguese singer Mariza, and The Silk Road Ensemble with Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
March 14 to 31, various timings, from Dh125, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, www.800tickets.com/abudhabifestival
Dubai
Tennis event
Tickets for the 2017 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships are now on sale. The men’s and women’s events feature the world’s top tennis stars, including Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska (pictured), Karolina Pliskova, Johanna Konta, Thomas Berdych, Andy Murray and Roger Federer, competing for championship titles at one of the most popular events on the city’s sporting calendar.
Starts Sunday, then runs daily until March 4, various timings, from Dh2,250 for the women's week; Dh2,500 for the men's week, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Al Garhoud, Dubai, www.timeouttickets.com
Dubai
Author talk
Register to attend a talk, presented by Cafe Scientifique, featuring author Simon Ings, who will share his thoughts on his new book, Stalin and the Scientists. Learn about five of Ings's favourite "mad" Soviet scientists and why they are worthy of historical note.
Tomorrow, 4.30pm to 6pm, free with registration, Urban Bistro, Dubai Media City, Dubai, www.cafescidubai.com/events
Dubai
Art exhibition
Bernhard Buhmann references the Charlie Chaplin film in the title of his latest solo exhibit, Modern Times, which questions the effects of globalisation and fragmentation of personal identities through characters that face the consequences of industrialisation. Pictured: All About My Shelf
Daily until February 28, 11.30am to 7pm, Saturdays to Thursdays (closed Fridays), Carbon 12, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai, 04 340 6016, www.carbon12dubai.com
Dubai
Live music
Finish the week with some live rock music at Hard Rock Cafe, courtesy of The Distillers (pictured), who will perform nightly until Saturday. The live music continues as The Dirty Suits kick off the week with alternative rock; Jammrok plays Caribbean beats; Vinyl Revival play classic rock favourites and Funk Power deliver jazz and R&B.
Daily, 8.30pm to 12.30am, free entry, Hard Rock Cafe Dubai, Dubai Festival City Mall, Dubai, reservations at 04 232 8900, www.hardrock.com/dubai
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Scoreline
Australia 2-1 Thailand
Australia: Juric 69', Leckie 86'
Thailand: Pokklaw 82'
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
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.”
