KAMPALA // Phiona Mutesi used to forage for food in the impoverished slums of Kampala.
On Saturday, however, she was attending a Disney movie premiere about her life in the Ugandan capital.
What happened in between? Mutesi became a chess champion and the resulting film, Queen of Katwe, is a real-life tale of triumph over adversity.
“It was so emotional to see the film,” said Mutesi, 20, at the premiere.
“Sometimes people think that it’s not real life but what they show in Katwe is true. The foods, the people, children working to sell corn on the street, it’s all true.”
Authenticity is very important to the film’s director, Mira Nair.
“Uganda has been my home for 37 years. I’ve been waiting to distill the vibrancy, colour, style and the life of Kampala all this time,” said Indian-born Nair.
“Authenticity has always been a treasure to me and this film is pure Uganda. The reaction from audiences has been absolutely rapturous: laughing, sobbing, dancing and crying.”
The film, which had its global premiere at last month’s Toronto Film Festival, tells the story of Mutesi, who escaped her life as a vegetable hawker when she revealed, at the age of nine, a remarkable talent for chess at an outreach programme in a poverty-stricken Kampala slum of Katwe.
Queen of Katwe is a tale of resilience, learning and strong women who overcome the odds.
“Today my heart is exploding with happiness at bringing the film home,” Nair enthused.
Academy award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o plays Mutesi’s mother Harriet, a widow trying to do the best for her children amid relentless hardship.
“It’s exciting to be back in Uganda to share the film with its home,” the Kenyan actress said at the Ugandan premiere of the new film.
“I can’t wait to watch it with the local cast. Mira tells this story from the inside out with compassion and empathy for the people of Katwe.”
Mutesi, portrayed in the film by 16-year-old Madina Nalwanga in her first screen role, is now a chess champion who competes internationally.
The game was only introduced in Uganda in the 1970s by overseas doctors and was still seen as a pursuit only for the rich.
“I like chess because it involves planning,” Mutesi said last year. “If you don’t plan, you will end up with your life so bad.”
Queen of Katwe is based on a book of the same name about Mutesi by American writer Tim Crothers.
It was shot in Uganda and South Africa.
* Agence France-Presse
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.”
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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