Attendees enjoy the 1 Billion Followers Summit. Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced a Dh150m fund for influencers as well as the creation of a new headquarters. Photo: 1 Billion Followers Summit
Attendees enjoy the 1 Billion Followers Summit. Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced a Dh150m fund for influencers as well as the creation of a new headquarters. Photo: 1 Billion Followers Summit
Attendees enjoy the 1 Billion Followers Summit. Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced a Dh150m fund for influencers as well as the creation of a new headquarters. Photo: 1 Billion Followers Summit
Attendees enjoy the 1 Billion Followers Summit. Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced a Dh150m fund for influencers as well as the creation of a new headquarters. Photo: 1 Bill

UAE

Government

Sheikh Mohammed announces Dh150m fund and new headquarters for influencers

Announcement came as Dubai hosts major summit for content creators

The National

January 10, 2024

  • English
  • Arabic

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has announced a fund of Dh150 million to support content creators and influencers.

Sheikh Mohammed also said a permanent headquarters for influencers would be created.

“Today we issued directives to allocate a fund valued at Dh150 million to support content creators and transform the digital media sector,” Sheikh Mohammed said, according to state news agency Wam.

“We also instructed the establishment of a permanent influencers' headquarters that provides year-round support.

“These steps align with our ongoing investment in creative talents who will write new inspiring stories that will add to the UAE’s influential media presence on the global stage.

“Impactful media reflects the past and provides an inspiration for the future.”

His comments came as Dubai hosted the 1 Billion Followers Summit, a gathering of some of the world’s top social media influencers and content creators, on Wednesday.

The two-day summit, taking place at Emirates Towers and Dubai’s Museum of the Future, features at least 3,000 attendees, 100 speakers and more than 300 companies from the technology and social media landscape.

The new headquarters, a collaboration between the UAE Government Media Office and the New Media Academy, aim to bring together top influencers and content creators.

Supporting creators

The Dh150m fund aims to support the development of creative and impactful content, help content creators hone their skills and introduce the UAE story, its achievements and cultural contributions to global markets, Wam reported.

The fund also aims to attract investment in new media.

Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, said: “The fund is dedicated to supporting content creators [and] presents exceptional opportunities for them to fulfil their potential, grow their business and showcase the accomplishments and ambitions of the Emirati people to the world.

“These efforts will solidify the UAE’s position as a global capital for digital content.”

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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.”

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Updated: January 11, 2024, 2:03 PM
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