DUBAI // Dishonest shopkeepers are making it "virtually impossible" to control price rises for sheep and goats at the Dubai livestock market ahead of Eid Al Adha, inspectors say.
Sellers at the market were yesterday seen to be lifting prices as soon as the ministry's head of consumer protection, Dr Hashim Al Nuaimi, turned his back.
"We know this happens but it's virtually impossible to control it," said Abdul Razaq Mohammed, a market inspector with the Municipality. "The ministry visits the market once or twice a year and they really cannot control the situation this way."
The inspectors were visiting to monitor prices ahead of Eid Al Adha, expected to be on October 26.
Dr Al Nuaimi found prices at most of the 146 shops in Al Qusais were reasonable.
At one, a 20-kilogram sheep from Iran cost Dh900.
"It should be between Dh800 to Dh850," said Dr Al Nuaimi.
A nearby seller had a Dh1,200 price tag for a 40kg Iranian sheep.
"He must reduce it to Dh1,000 at least," said Dr Al Nuaimi. "It's not fair. He's abusing the customers."
The most expensive shop of the market sold najdi, nuaimi, Iranian and Indian sheep for Dh1,800.
"We are reducing prices by 20 per cent for Eid Al Adha," said Dr Al Nuaimi. "His sheep are 40kg to 45kg but he must cut his price down to at least Dh1,400."
A shopper complained that the seller did not stick to the new prices.
"I visited two shops after he told them to lower their price and they both lied to me," said Said Miwa, an Ajman resident. "I am looking for two goats for Eid and they are selling them to me for Dh950 each when it was reduced to Dh750. They even said they'd give it to me cheaper if the animals were sick."
Another woman complained about the lack of proper price tags.
"They wrote the price tags in their own languages, Urdu and Pashto," said Sayid Raza. "How can we understand what we're buying?"
Dr Al Nuaimi said prices were 20 per cent below last year's, but municipality inspectors did not seem impressed.
"We can't say anything about prices because it's not our place," said Mr Mohammed. "We have to ensure everything is safe and into place, but it's difficult for all of us to work together to monitor prices and every Eid is problematic like this.
"The ministry should come back randomly next week and start fining shopkeepers so others get scared.
Dr Al Nuaimi said he would visit the market before Eid with his inspectors to ensure prices stayed low.
"If prices change I will fine them between Dh5,000 and Dh100,000," he said.
Dr Al Nuaimi said any shopper wishing to complain about prices should contact the ministry's consumer protection hotline on 600 522225.
The market is open from 7am to 7pm and, as of Friday, from 7am to 11pm for 10 days.
"We plan on receiving shipments from India and Iran of 1,500 to 2,000 sheep a day on average for Eid," said Mr Mohammed.
cmalek@thenational.ae
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
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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.”
