UAE aid 'urgently needed' in Somalia



ABU DHABI // The former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, has stressed the urgent need for UAE financial aid to help with the crisis in Somalia.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Centre for Technology and Economic Development conference in the capital yesterday, Mr Rawlings said: "Africa is Africa and you don't turn down any opportunity to assist your brothers and sisters."

The two-day annual event, organised by New York University in Abu Dhabi, focused on how to enhance economic development in African countries through technology and innovation.

Food security, energy, education and health care were at the top of the agenda.

Mr Rawlings, the African Union envoy to Somalia, said he was thankful for the "occasional assistance" towards the famine but stressed the need to go beyond that.

In the past year Somalia has been plagued by famine, drought and violence from the conflict between the armed forces and the Islamist insurgent group Al Shabab, which last week announced its official allegiance to Al Qaeda.

The former military dictator who became elected president, and who ruled Ghana for two decades, said making a change would not be easy, but would be possible with aid from the UAE Government and the international community.

Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Minister of Foreign Trade, who inaugurated the conference, said the Government was making big investments in the field of technology and was excited about the considerable trade opportunities Africa represents.

Non-oil trade between the Emirates and African countries more than octupled between 2001 and 2010, to US$14.5 billion (Dh53.2bn) from $1.7bn, Sheikha Lubna said.

A self-professed "techie" with a degree in computer science, Sheikha Lubna said she had seen how technology had influenced the growth of the UAE economy.

"This is something I would like Africa and other developing regions in the world to experience as well," she said.

Sheikha Lubna said many of the fastest growing nations in the world were in Africa, including Ghana, which was last year the second-fastest growing economy in the world at 13.6 per cent.

She said it was important to understand the "full spectrum" of the various African governments and industries to be able to properly adapt and optimise technology to the continent.

"This is the rationale behind today's gathering: to share our experiences as nations, governments and industry leaders in technology-enabled growth," Sheikha Lubna said.

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UK's plans to cut net migration

Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.

Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.

But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.

Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.

Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.

The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.

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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Founder: Monark Modi

Based: Business Bay, Dubai

Sector: Financial services

Size: Eight employees

Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings

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May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final

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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
  • Drones
  • Animals
  • Fireworks/ flares
  • Radios or power banks
  • Laser pointers
  • Glass
  • Selfie sticks/ umbrellas
  • Sharp objects
  • Political flags or banners
  • Bikes, skateboards or scooters
How has net migration to UK changed?

The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.

It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.

The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.

The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.

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Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove

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  8. Argyll and Bute, Scotland 
  9. Fife, Scotland 
  10. Tower Hamlets, London 

 

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