Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, the only way out of the Gaza Strip not directly controlled by Israel, reopened on Monday for the evacuation of foreign citizens approved for departure, the Gazan border authority said.
The evacuation of foreign citizens trapped in the Palestinian enclave began last Wednesday under an internationally brokered agreement. The deal also allowed some injured Gazan civilians to leave for treatment at Egyptian hospitals for the first time since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7.
The crossing was closed on Friday after an Israeli strike on an ambulance at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city and no foreign citizens were allowed to leave on Saturday or Sunday.
Health officials in Gaza said the strike targeted a convoy of ambulances taking wounded people to Rafah. Israel said the ambulance was carrying a Hamas militant.
The Gaza border authority said on Monday that not all the foreigners cleared to leave so far had departed, and asked those still in the territory to make their way to the Rafah crossing.
The authority has been publishing daily lists of foreigners approved to leave Gaza on Facebook. The lists show 345 people were issued approval on Wednesday, 596 on Thursday and 571 on Friday. The list posted on Saturday was comprised of 55 Egyptians.
Under the border deal, the departure of foreign citizens depended on the Israeli military allowing injured Palestinians to safely leave Gaza for treatment, an official in the Egyptian city of Arish told The National.
The crossing remained closed to foreign citizens until assurances were given that all aspects of the deal will be respected, the official said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said a convoy of four ambulances transporting patients from Al Shifa Hospital, accompanied by two ICRC vehicles arrived at the Rafah crossing on Monday.
“It is an immense relief to know that these patients are safe and will receive urgent medical care,” said William Schomburg, the head of the ICRC’s office in Gaza.
“I can’t emphasise enough how crucial it is that hospitals, medical personnel, and patients are protected amid this violence. There are thousands of critically injured people in Gaza. It is an obligation under international humanitarian law to spare them from harm.”
Fifty lorries carrying aid entered Gaza on Monday, an Egyptian Red Crescent officer said, after 24 entered on Sunday.
Egypt is seeking to increase the amount of aid flowing into Gaza, including fuel, which Israel has thus far refused to allow.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, on Sunday to outline the “logistical obstacles” to the delivery of aid into Gaza, including repeated Israeli bombardments of the Rafah crossing.
Israel allowed fewer than 20 lorries to enter Gaza in the week after lifted its blockade on aid on October 21.
The following week it allowed 100 lorries to enter each day, but thousands of tonnes of aid sent by countries in the region and from around the world remain in Arish.
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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
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