Ramadan is set to begin at the beginning of April this year and over a billion Muslims will start observing a month-long fast during daylight hours.
The holy month begins approximately two weeks earlier each year and, for half the world, it will move away from the longer, hotter days of summer towards the shorter, cooler winter.
But which countries will have the most daylight hours and which nations will have the shortest fast?
Shortest Ramadan fast in 2022:
New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa are tied for the shortest fasting period between 11 and 12 hours during the month.
Longest Ramadan fast in 2022:
Muslims in the city of Reykjavík, Iceland, will have this year’s record of being residents of the city with the longest fasting hours. They are expected to endure a punishing 16 hours and 50 minutes hours fast during the holy month.
How can you fast for Ramadan when it never gets dark?
While nowhere is expecting a midnight sun this Ramadan, Muslims in countries with exceptionally long daytimes during the holy month can’t actually adhere to a 20-hour fast.
So, what do they do?
In countries where the sunset and sunrise are less than three hours apart, fatwas have been declared in order to allow residents to follow the schedule of other cities. Many, for example, will follow the fast times of Makkah in Saudi Arabia.
This year, Saudi Arabia and much of the Middle East will be fasting for around 15 hours a day.
Longest and shortest fast times for Ramadan 2022 by countries:
Shortest fast times:
Johannesburg, South Africa: 11 to 12 hours
Buenos Aires, Argentina: 11 to 12 hours
Cape Town, South Africa: 11 to 12 hours
Christchurch, New Zealand: 11 to 12 hours
Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: 11 to 12 hours
Montevideo, Uruguay: 11 to 12 hours
Brasilia, Brazil: 12 to 13 hours
Harare, Zimbabwe: 12 to 13 hours
Longest fast times:
Reykjavík, Iceland: 16 hours and 50 minutes
Warsaw, Poland: 15 hours
London, England: 15 hours
Paris, France: 16 to 17 hours
Lisbon, Portugal: 15 to 16 hours
Athens, Greece: 15 to 16 hours
Beijing, China: 15 to 16 hours
Washington DC, US: 15 to 16 hours
Ankara, Turkey: 15 to 16 hours
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Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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.”
Playing records of the top 10 in 2017
How many games the top 10 have undertaken in the 2017 ATP season
1. Rafael Nadal 58 (49-9)
2. Andy Murray 35 (25-10)
3. Roger Federer 38 (35-3)
4. Stan Wawrinka 37 (26-11)
5. Novak Djokovic 40 (32-8)
6. Alexander Zverev 60 (46-14)
7. Marin Cilic 43 (29-14)
8. Dominic Thiem 60 (41-19)
9. Grigor Dimitrov 48 (34-14)
10. Kei Nishikori 43 (30-13)
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Favourite books: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life' by Jane D. Mathews and ‘The Moment of Lift’ by Melinda Gates
Favourite travel destination: Greece, a blend of ancient history and captivating nature. It always has given me a sense of joy, endless possibilities, positive energy and wonderful people that make you feel at home.
Favourite pastime: travelling and experiencing different cultures across the globe.
Favourite quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
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