ABU DHABI // With the camel racing season ending in just a few days, Mohammed Al Shamsi has already begun to strategise for the next year.
Mohammed was one of hundreds who travelled across the GCC this week to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi for the final camel races. It is the last major event before the hot weather ends the official race season.
Today is day seven of the 10-day grand finale at the Al Wathbah Camel Races Finals 2013. Thousands are expected to attend or watch the televised 12 races on Tuesday, when tribesmen and sheikhs will compete for prizes that include 288 vehicles, cash and swords.
Mohammed, 16, and his father Saeed, 47, drove from Al Ain on Friday to watch live races on a TV screen from the track's air-conditioned, glass-enclosed grandstand that overlooks the finish line.
They took careful note of the competition. It is Mohammed's ambition that next year his three-year-old camel, Jabbara, will be running on the Al Wathbah track.
After each 6km race, a gold-colour profile of the winning camel flashed on the screen with its time. It is Mohammed's dream see to Jabbara's head flash on the screen in 2014.
Jabbara may have the right stuff. She is the daughter of the prolific stud and race champion Jabbar. She is a camel with ambition, said her owners. "She's very big trouble," said Mohammed, a year 11 pupil. "Her blood is hot. You can't catch her. For us, it's good."
She has already placed first at smaller races in Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Ibri, Oman. This is no small matter for a camel that is only one year into her professional life.
Al Wathbah is the big time.
It is a major league race for the world's swiftest camels. "The camels that don't get first, we don't take them to Al Wathbah," said Saeed.
This weekend's races were reserved for senior camels. Categories were the naya and houl camels, which are aged six and above.
The camels that raced this weekend, who were once the celebrities of their day, are expected to retire next season and drew small crowds.
Nonetheless, they performed. The veteran race champion Gharbia secured her reputation as one of the fastest camels to emerge from the Western Region.
She is one of hundreds of camels owned by Mohammed Zayed, a trainer from Madinat Zayed who made his mark in race history by naming nearly all of his 100 camels after his home territory, Al Gharbia.
Technology has defined the 2012-2013 race season as the sport edges towards modern regulation found in other racing events. This year all racing camels were required to be microchipped. Owners and camels alike were required to present ID before each race. Broadcasting took a step forward with the use of remote-control drone cameras that follow camels around the track. It provided viewers a much needed relief from the usual monotony of camels that appear to run in an unchanging straight line.
A GCC record for a four-year-old camel was set on Thursday by Shera'u, a camel owned by Sheikh Qaqa'a bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar. She had a time of 8 minutes 48 seconds in a 6km race.
Camels like Shera'u are rewarded - at times reluctantly - by being doused in a fragrant mix of saffron, musk and the mahaleb spice on their necks and face. The festival uses 14 kilo a day, at a cost of Dh40,000 a day.
Even spectators have a chance to win prizes this year. There is a text competition where people can guess which camel will win in different age categories. Those who guess right are eligible to win one of four Range Rovers.
Thursday's races were attended by Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed, the Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, the deputy ruler of Dubai and the Minister of Finance, the state news agency Wam reported.
The final 14-km races will be on Tuesday at 7am and 2pm for tribe-owned and sheikh-owned camels.
An out-of-season race will take place from April 21 to 26 in honour of the Qasr Al Hosn festival. More information can be found at The Camel Race Association website: www.cra.ae
azacharias@thenational.ae
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.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
if you go
The flights
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
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Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
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Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
More information
For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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