Egypt’s Parliament on Saturday approved an extensive Cabinet reshuffle that changed the leadership of 13 ministries including those overseeing health, irrigation and water resources, and tourism.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said the decision to reshuffle the Cabinet was taken following extensive consultations with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
Mr El Sisi said the changes were made to “to improve government performance in some important sectors, both internally and externally, which will contribute to protecting the interests of the state and its capabilities, and directly improve the services provided to the Egyptian citizen”.
The 13 ministries involved in the reshuffle are Health, Immigration, Local Development, Higher Education, Culture, Civil Aviation, Military Production, Education, Tourism and Antiquities, Manpower, Public Sector Business, Trade and Industry, and Irrigation and Water Resources.
Reda Hegazy was appointed minister for education, replacing Tarek Shawki, who was appointed to the post in 2017 by former prime minister Sherif Ismail.
Hani Swailem was named the minister for water resources and irrigation, taking over from Mohamed Abdel Aty who led currently stalled negotiations with Ethiopia over its giant dam on the Blue Nile.
Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, who previously headed the Higher Education Ministry, was appointed health minister. He had been doubling as the Health Ministry’s acting head since former minister Hala Zayed resigned in October.
Mohamed Ayman Ashour will take over from Mr Abdel Ghaffar as minister for higher education.
Immigration minister Nabila Makram, whose son was charged with double murder in California this year, was replaced by Soha Samir El Gendy, Egypt's ambassador to Ireland.
Ahmed Issa Taha was given charge of one of the country’s most vital sectors, taking over the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities from Khaled El Anany, who had been praised for steering the sector through various challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Parliament also approved the replacement of Nevine Gamea by Ahmed Samir as the trade and industry minister, and the appointment of Lt Gen Mohamed Abbas as the minister for civil aviation.
Hassan Shehata replaced Mohamed Saafan as the new minister of manpower, while Inas Abdel Dayem, a renowned flautist, was replaced by Nevine El Kilani as culture minister.
Hisham Amna, Mahmoud Esmat and Mohamed Salah El Din were appointed as the new heads of the local development, public sector business and military production ministries, respectively.
Officials involved in consultations with Mr El Sisi on the changes told Al Masry Al Youm newspaper that the reshuffle followed two weeks of discussions and interviews with 50 candidates for ministerial roles.
In a post on his Facebook page, Mr El Sisi thanked all the departing ministers for their service to the country and wished their replacements success in their new roles.
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
What is Genes in Space?
Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.
It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration.
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.”
