Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, an Abu Dhabi government agency, has teamed up with Etisalat and Microsoft to help the emirate's small and medium-sized enterprises in their digital transformation.
As part of an online education programme called e-Empower, Etisalat and Microsoft will organise webinars and workshops, and offer preferential rates and digital support to SMEs in Abu Dhabi, the fund said in a statement.
Etisalat and Microsoft will jointly host a digital academy that provides informative videos, webinars and talk shows to help entrepreneurs improve their digital capacity and online business models, the statement said.
Khalifa Fund continues to remain dedicated towards optimally equipping Abu Dhabi SMEs with the required knowledge, insights and resources to digitally transform
“Khalifa Fund continues to remain dedicated towards optimally equipping Abu Dhabi SMEs with the required knowledge, insights and resources to digitally transform and becoming highly efficient e-commerce enterprises,” Mohammed Al Shorafa, chairman of the fund and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, said.
“The new strategic partnership between Khalifa Fund, Etisalat and Microsoft is another cohesive effort between industry leaders to further enhance Abu Dhabi’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
The Khalifa Fund teamed up with Amazon in September last year to support SMEs in Abu Dhabi.
A report from Abu Dhabi Chamber estimated that SMEs account for 98 per cent of all companies in the emirate, making them a key pillar of its economy. The UAE capital has announced various measures to support and develop SMEs, including economic relief packages during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government has sought to attract more high-tech start-ups and businesses to Abu Dhabi as part of its focus on artificial intelligence, agriculture technology, food security and industrialisation.
Khalifa Fund’s e-Empower initiative currently has 1,200 applicants who have their online marketplaces featured across Amazon, noon.ae and Askhaak, the statement said.
Abu Dhabi SMEs who register with e-Empower will receive exclusive trade licences and preferential rates with Etisalat and Microsoft, Mr Al Shorafa said.
The UAE telecom company will offer SMEs registered on e-Empower access to its ‘Hello Business Hub’ platform.
“SMEs are key to innovation and job creation and are undoubtedly the engine of growth of the country’s economy,” Hatem Dowidar, chief executive of Etisalat Group, said.
Meanwhile, Microsoft will host digital webinars, including bi-weekly awareness services, advisory sessions and online training, as well as preferential rates for Microsoft 365 software and digital support for sellers, the fund said.
“Initiatives like this, driven jointly by the public and private sector and focused on education and infrastructure, are meeting a real need in the entrepreneurial and SME community,” Sayed Hashish, general manager of Microsoft UAE, said.
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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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