Residents in 10 areas of Dubai, including City Walk and Palm Jumeirah, will be able to ride e-scooters on designated tracks starting early next year.
In October 2020, authorities began a trial run in five districts as part of wider efforts to slash congestion levels.
The designated e-scooter areas were Downtown Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai Internet City, 2nd of December Street, Al Rigga and Jumeirah Lakes Towers.
By the end of September, e-scooter users made about half a million trips.
Now, residents in five more areas of Dubai will be able to use electric scooters on designated tracks.
Mattar Al Tayer, director general and chairman of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, announced the start of civil works in preparation for the launch of phase one of the project.
“The initial phase covers Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai Internet City, Al Rigga, 2nd of December Street (specified track and zone), The Palm Jumeirah, and City Walk. It also covered safe roads in Al Qusais, Al Mankhool, and Al Karama communities as well as cycling tracks except for the cycling tracks of Seih Al Salam, Al Qudra, and Meydan,” Mr Al Tayer said.
Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority plans to expand the e-scooter network to include specific residential areas and 23 new districts.
“The selection of these districts was guided by specific criteria, such as high population density, special development areas, areas served by metro stations and mass transportation, the availability of integrated infrastructure, and areas with a high level of traffic safety," said Mr Al Tayer.
“The trial operation of the e-scooter proved successful as a suitable means for individual commuting over short distances and first and last-mile trips. The customers’ satisfaction rating of the experiment reached 82 per cent."
RTA has called on the public to avoid using electric scooters on tracks that are still under construction in order to avoid accidents. They said infrastructure works for e-scooters in new districts is going according to plan.
Residents have been reminded they can can only ride e-scooters under strict guidelines and on designated tracks.
Riders must comply with the rules and regulations set by RTA.
The e-scooter must be parked at designated places and must not be left in places that can trigger traffic bottlenecks.
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Scoreline
Arsenal 0 Manchester City 3
- Agüero 18'
- Kompany 58'
- Silva 65'
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.”
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
