Omanis thronged markets on Wednesday to stock up on the first day of Ramadan despite rapidly rising cases of Covid-19.
A queue of cars lined up outside Muscat’s souqs, with some drivers honking impatiently trying to get into overcrowded car parks.
Shoppers wore masks but shopkeepers remained cautious.
“We cannot complain too much about the lack of social distancing as long as we are making money,” said Khalid Al Haddabi, 62, a fruit seller in the Seeb area of Muscat.
“It is not my place to police the crowd of shoppers. If they can show their money, I am happy to serve them. They should show more responsibility than the people who serve them.”
Social distancing is difficult in some narrow, shop-lined streets of the capital, and hand sanitiser scarce in stores, but few seemed put off.
“What can we do? They don’t have online shopping in the traditional souqs. Besides, even if they had online ordering, I would not have done it. The fun of Ramadan’s food shopping is to be physically here among the crowd," said Mohammed Al Falahi, 46, a shopper in Mawaleh Market.
"Not even Covid-19 can stop us being here,” he added.
Some woke up early in the morning to rush to the food stalls to get the freshest fruits and vegetables, and beat the crowds.
"Last year, I came late in the midafternoon and all the fresh fruit and vegetables were gone," Salah Al Hadidi, 32, told The National.
“This time, I arrived here at nine in the morning when the stalls were opening up before the big crowd got in. Another advantage of being here in the morning is to beat the evening lockdown.”
The 9pm to 4am lockdown starts on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, where Muslims across the world fast from sunrise to sunset.
Oman has reported on Wednesday 1,269 new infection cases with nine deaths. The total number of deaths is 1,807 while a total of 175,633 people are infected.
On Wednesday, 105 people were admitted to the hospitals with the virus, bringing the total number of inpatients in hospitals to 759, including 250 in intensive care units.
Earlier this week, the Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Al Saeedi blamed new variants and lack of compliance with safety measures for the rise in cases in Oman.
Oman has banned iftar meals in mosques and taraweeh prayers, which are offered just after the sunset prayers.
Hotels and restaurants are also barred from serving iftar, but charity food distribution is allowed.
Palestine and Israel - live updates
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.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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