• People watch boys playing in floodwater in the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
    People watch boys playing in floodwater in the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
  • A motorbike ploughs through floodwater in Sanaa. Reuters
    A motorbike ploughs through floodwater in Sanaa. Reuters
  • A flooded street after heavy rainfall in the old city of Yemen's capital. AFP
    A flooded street after heavy rainfall in the old city of Yemen's capital. AFP
  • Travelling through the city by car was still possible, despite the deep lying water. AFP
    Travelling through the city by car was still possible, despite the deep lying water. AFP
  • It began raining in the area last week and a number of deaths were attributed to the wet weather and flash flooding. AFP
    It began raining in the area last week and a number of deaths were attributed to the wet weather and flash flooding. AFP
  • Girls cross a flooded street in the old city of Sanaa. AFP
    Girls cross a flooded street in the old city of Sanaa. AFP
  • The rain stops at last. AFP
    The rain stops at last. AFP
  • Children gather, undeterred by floods in the city. AFP
    Children gather, undeterred by floods in the city. AFP
  • It's wading rather than walking for most of Sanaa's pedestrians. AFP
    It's wading rather than walking for most of Sanaa's pedestrians. AFP
  • A group of boys tries some water sports. AFP
    A group of boys tries some water sports. AFP

Yemen flash floods kill 17 people including two children


Nada AlTaher
  • English
  • Arabic

Flash floods in parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels have killed at least 17 people, two including children, over the past 12 days.

Residents of the capital Sanaa and the south-western governorates of Ibb and Dhamar were wading knee-deep in water, as flooding caused traffic jams, reports by Houthi-run media showed.

On Monday, the Houthi-run Saba News agency said six people were killed in the governorate of Raymah.

Boys play on a flood road in the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen, on Monday. Reuters
Boys play on a flood road in the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen, on Monday. Reuters

Sunday was the deadliest day, when two girls, aged 6 and 11, were killed after their three-storey home in Sanaa partially collapsed as a result of heavy rains and flooding. Their father was injured but the rest of the family survived.

On the same day, six people died in Dhamar after their vehicle was swept away in flash floods. Five of the bodies were retrieved and one remains missing.

Also on Sunday, three people from the same family were killed in the Houthi-run capital Sanaa after their home collapsed.

The country recorded its first flood-related death since the turbulent weather began on July 14, in the oil-rich eastern city of Marib, where 2.2 million internally displaced people live. Two people were killed, displacement camps and mud huts were destroyed and others were trapped in their homes. A security official was among those who died that day, Saba reported.

Only rudimentary methods of draining flood water were available to provide relief, as Houthi officials blamed poor urban planning for the water build-up.

"We haven't seen as much rain as this since I was born," local resident Mosheer Hasbawi told Associated Press.

Yemen is in its eighth year of war since the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa in 2014, and the Saudi-led coalition intervened a year later to restore the government to power.

Since then, Sanaa and Houthi-controlled territory has had little improvement in public sector infrastructure like roads, sewage and drainage facilities.

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Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

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10 JuneCrusadersWon 12-3

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24 JuneNew ZealandLost 30-15

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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.”

Profile

Company: Libra Project

Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware

Launch year: 2017

Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time

Sector: Renewable energy

Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 390bhp

Torque: 400Nm

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Three-and-a-half stars

Updated: July 28, 2022, 4:52 PM