Sudan peace talks continued in Switzerland on Thursday with the Sudanese military maintaining its boycott of the process and a senior US diplomat saying no agreement to end the fighting would feature a power-sharing arrangement between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The army, which has been fighting the RSF for 16 months of civil war, said its boycott of the US-sponsored talks was due to dissatisfaction with their format.
The war has created the world's largest displacement crisis and left more than half the population, or about 25 million people, facing acute hunger. However, the army-backed government on Thursday ordered the reopening of a key border crossing with Chad to allow humanitarian assistance to flow into the western region of Darfur, where hunger is more widespread than anywhere else in Sudan.
Peace talks held in Saudi Arabia's coastal city of Jeddah – sponsored by both the US and the Saudis – failed to pause the fighting despite a string of declared ceasefires. A humanitarian deal reached in May last year to alleviate the suffering of civilians affected by the conflict is also yet to be implemented.
After two days of talks between Sudanese and US officials earlier this month in Jeddah, Sudan's army-backed government said it was unhappy with the format of the negotiations, particularly the addition of new observers. It also claimed the US was wrongly assessing the situation in Sudan.
The talks are co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, with the African Union, Egypt, the UAE and UN forming a steering group.
They began in Geneva on Wednesday without Sudanese army representation, although US officials said they would continue to try to persuade army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan to send delegates to join the process, which is held behind closed doors at an undisclosed location and could last up to 10 days.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed directly to Gen Al Burhan by telephone on Wednesday night to reconsider joining the talks.
He “reiterated the need for participation” and told him of the “urgent need” for both sides “to end the war and guarantee humanitarian access for the millions of Sudanese who are suffering”, said US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.
On Thursday, the Sudanese military said Gen Al Burhan had reaffirmed to Mr Blinken his opposition to expanding the number of observers and facilitators in the negotiations.
“He also repeated to him the Sudanese position; which is a commitment to the implementation of the Jeddah deal,” said the statement, alluding to the humanitarian agreement reached in Jeddah that obliges the two sides to protect civilians and allow the entry and distribution of relief aid.
The deal also says the RSF should vacate private homes and state installations it has occupied since the war broke out.
In a show of goodwill, Sudan's military-led sovereign council said on Thursday it would allow the use of the Adre border crossing with Chad for three months to enable humanitarian aid to enter Darfur, where more than 6 million people are said to be facing food insecurity.
Darfur, which is mostly controlled by the RSF, is also home to the Zamzam camp for the displaced where famine was recently declared.
The Adre crossing was closed by the government in February amid allegations that it was being used to send weapons to the RSF. The decision to reopen it appeared timed to coincide with the talks in Switzerland and to mitigate charges that the army was contributing to the suffering of the Sudanese.
“We continue our relentless work with international partners to save lives and ensure we achieve tangible results," US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello said on Thursday, portraying the talks in a positive way despite the absence of the military.
In an online interview posted on Thursday, Mr Perriello responded to the army's opposition to the replacement of the so-called Jeddah forum with the talks in Switzerland.
“They are an evolution of the Jeddah process,” he said, adding that an agreement in Switzerland on the cessation of hostilities was possible. He also addressed the fear shared by many Sudanese that the RSF emerges victorious from the war and takes control of the country.
“An outright victory for the RSF is completely unacceptable” he said while assuring that there would be “no power-sharing arrangement that gives the RSF a political role.”
The RSF evolved from a notorious militia called the Janjaweed which is accused of committing atrocities against civilians when it fought on the government side against rebels in the Darfur region in the 2000s. Its fighters are also accused of killing thousands of ethnic Africans last summer in attacks that are being investigated by the International Criminal Court.
The army is also accused of causing the death of thousands of civilians in air strikes targeting RSF positions in heavily populated areas.
The war in Sudan broke out after weeks of tension over the role of the army and RSF descended into violence. The fighting was initially restricted to the capital Khartoum but later spread across much of the country, with the RSF seizing large areas of territory from the army.
Both sides claim to be fighting for a democratic Sudan and vow to put the country on the right path of freedom and prosperity. However, the conflict is rooted in a 2021 coup jointly staged by Gen Al Burhan and his one-time ally Gen Mohamed Dagalo, the commander of the RSF.
The coup overthrew a transitional government that took office after the ousting in 2019 of dictator Omar Al Bashir amid a popular uprising, derailing the country's transition to democratic rule and plunging it into one of its worst political and economic crisis.
Al Shafie Ahmed contributed to this report from Kampala, Uganda
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
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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.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
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