Sellas Tetteh knows a thing or two about nurturing young Ghanaian talent and he has high hopes several of his players at the Under 20 World Cup in New Zealand will push on for the 2018 and 2022 senior tournaments.
Six of his side that became the first African team to win the U20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009 went on to make the senior squad who came within a whisker of making the semi-finals of the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
“These players, you can not say you can promote them en bloc, but there could be one or two or three we could promote cautiously,” Tetteh said after his side produced an impressive 3-2 win over pre-tournament favourites Argentina in Wellington.
“In 2009, when we won the World Cup, nine of the players were promoted to the senior national team and six went to the 2010 World Cup.
“We are hoping that a few of our boys will be able to do that too.”
In 2010, the Black Stars were denied becoming the first African side to make the last four at the World Cup finals when Asamoah Gyan missed a 120th-minute penalty after Uruguay’s Luis Suarez had deliberately handled the ball on the goal line.
Uruguay went on to win the quarter-final in Johannesburg on penalties after the match ended locked at 1-1.
Their U20 side, however, have a strong pedigree at the age-grade levels, making at least the quarter-finals in all six of their previous U20 tournaments, finishing runners-up in 1993 and 2001 and third in Turkey in 2013.
“Soccer is the game that every person loves,” Tetteh added. “Our youth development is one of the biggest projects we follow assiduously.
“We try to put the best structures in place in our youth policy and it is paying dividends.
“The production of players from this U20 team in four years time you won’t be surprised to be seeing them in the senior team.”
The 58-year-old Tetteh is in his third U20 World Cup campaign in New Zealand and has already set the team a goal of reaching the semi-finals as a “minimum” target.
After their victory over Argentina, where they were inspired by captain Clifford Aboagye and jumped out to a 3-0 lead, they head Group B on four points and can advance to the round of 16 with a draw against Panama in Auckland on Friday.
A number of Ghana’s youth talents are already owned by big European clubs, including forward Yaw Yeboah, who scored a penalty in Ghana’s 1-1 opening draw against Austria, at Manchester City.
Godfred Donsah (Cagliari), Emmanuel Boateng (Rio Ave), David Atanga (Red Bull Salzburg) and Emmanuel Ntim (Valenciennes) are among those already with a European pedigree Ghana are relying on at this tournament, where they have high ambitions.
“Our minimum target is to reach the semi-final, the performance clarified that,” he added.
“If we can maintain that performance in every game then getting there will not a be a very difficult task.
“But when we talk about tournament games, they’re compressed into a very short period with a small number of players.
“In this period there could be injuries so it’s the team that can manage these factors will find themselves in the last four ... then anything can happen.”
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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.”
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
