The agreements were signed by Mohamed Al Suwaidi, Angola’s Finance Minister Vera De Sousa (L) and Faruq Muhammad (R) of Standard Chartered. Photo: Adex
The agreements were signed by Mohamed Al Suwaidi, Angola’s Finance Minister Vera De Sousa (L) and Faruq Muhammad (R) of Standard Chartered. Photo: Adex
The agreements were signed by Mohamed Al Suwaidi, Angola’s Finance Minister Vera De Sousa (L) and Faruq Muhammad (R) of Standard Chartered. Photo: Adex
The agreements were signed by Mohamed Al Suwaidi, Angola’s Finance Minister Vera De Sousa (L) and Faruq Muhammad (R) of Standard Chartered. Photo: Adex

Abu Dhabi Exports Office signs $121m in green finance deals with Angola


Fareed Rahman
  • English
  • Arabic

The Abu Dhabi Exports Office (Adex), the export-financing arm of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, has signed two green finance agreements with the government of Angola to support the country’s IT sector and infrastructure projects.

One agreement, worth Dh330 million ($90 million), relates to the acquisition of an analytical platform, main data centre, backup data centre and national cloud platform to strengthen the Angolan IT sector.

The project will be carried out by Presight, a G42 company, which specialises in big data analysis powered by artificial intelligence and cloud computing, Adex said in a statement on Friday.

Another agreement, valued at Dh115 million, will allow Mark Cables, a UAE company specialising in manufacturing cables, lighting, water and electrification projects, to install and maintain street lights in the cities of Luanda, Malanje, N’dalatando and Uíge.

The funding will be provided in co-operation with Standard Chartered, Adex said.

“The two agreements constitute an important starting point for a new phase of developmental co-operation with the government of Angola,” said Mohamed Al Suwaidi, director general of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and chairman of the exports executive committee of the Adex.

“They contribute to building efficient partnerships to support the development of modern, environment-friendly infrastructure in Angola in co-operation with well-established UAE companies, as well as companies based in Angola. These activities will also contribute to the efforts to diversify the UAE’s economy.”

The Angolan government would “immensely benefit” from the agreements with Adex, which will help it develop data, as well as financial and educational services, in addition to install modern and sustainable street-lighting systems in major Angolan cities, its Finance Minister Vera De Sousa said.

Set up in 2019, Adex offers financing solutions to exporters to help increase the UAE’s trade volumes and promote its export business in global markets.

Adex provides credit facilities to overseas buyers and importers through direct and indirect loans and guarantees.

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Tank warfare

Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks. 

“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.

“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”

MATCH INFO

Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')

Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')

Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)

Gifts exchanged
  • King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
  • Queen Camilla -  Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
  • Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
  • Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag

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

Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm

Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Price: from Dh850,000

On sale: now

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Updated: February 10, 2023, 3:28 PM