Eid Al Fitr cannons were fired across the UAE to mark the end of Ramadan.
They were fired on Sunday night at several locations on the last day of the holy month to signify that Muslims can stop fasting until the next Ramadan.
The ceremonies also heralded the start of Eid Al Fitr.
A cannon was fired at Abu Dhabi’s oldest building, Qasr Al Hosn, to signal prayers and to break the day’s fast.
In Dubai, The National was at Burj Park, where police officers fired the shots at iftar time.
People gathered at both locations to watch the cannon firing
Officers fire two rounds to announce the beginning and end of the holy month and a single shot at sunset every day during Ramadan.
This year, Dubai Police's iftar cannons operated from 11 locations.
Cannons, which can be heard as far as 10 kilometres away, have been a tradition in UAE since the 1960s.
According to protocol, four officers are present at each firing. Two officers man the cannon, where one passes a blank cartridge, and the other loads it.
Two officers remain at the back as guardians of the cannon and give orders. When it is time for iftar, an officer gives the order and the cannon is fired.
On the last day of Ramadan, Muslims in Dubai offered their prayers at mosques across the emirate and special prayers will be held across the country tomorrow.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre announced that Eid prayer will be held tomorrow at 7am.
Eid Al Fitr will begin on Monday in the UAE, the moon-sighting committee announced on Saturday.
Government employees will have a week-long holiday during Eid Al Fitr, while private-sector workers will have a holiday from Saturday, April 30, until Wednesday, May 4.
Last week, the authorities announced protocols for celebrating Eid Al Fitr.
They include having an active green pass on Al Hosn app; following precautionary measures, such as wearing wear face masks at all times; and maintaining physical distancing when going for Eid prayers.
Prayers must not exceed 20 minutes and the gates of mosques should be opened after dawn prayers.
The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said the public should give Eid presents through electronic means and people should try to limit celebrations to immediate family members and close friends.
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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.”
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
