US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday on what he said was the first non-stop flight from Israel to Sudan.
Mr Pompeo's visit is part of a regional tour after an accord between Israel and the UAE this month, and comes as Israel and the US urge more Arab countries to follow.
He met Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and ruling council leader Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan during a brief stopover in Khartoum.
They discussed US support for the civilian-led government and for “deepening the Sudan-Israel relationship”, the State Department said.
Sudan has been restoring its ties with the US after the removal from power of Omar Al Bashir in April last year.
It is pushing to be removed from the list of countries that Washington considers state sponsors of terrorism.
Asked if Mr Pompeo would announce a breakthrough in Sudan such as normalisation of ties with Israel or the removal of US sanctions, an official on the flight said: “It’s possible that more history will be made.”
The official said Sudan had offered the direct flight, dropping the requirement “that such a flight make a cosmetic stop en route”.
But Mr Hamdok told Mr Pompeo that he did not have a mandate to normalise ties with Israel and that the issue should not be linked to Sudan’s removal from the state sponsors of terrorism list.
The country is a year in to a 39-month political transition in which the military and civilians are sharing power.
Its economy is in crisis and authorities have been pushing to end the US terrorism listing, which prevents Sudan from obtaining financing from international lenders.
Ties with Israel are a sensitive issue in Sudan, which under Al Bashir was a staunch opponent.
In February, Gen Al Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda but cast doubt on any rapid normalisation of relations.
Sudan announced on Wednesday last week that it had sacked its foreign ministry spokesman after he said Khartoum was looking to normalise ties.
Mr Hamdok told Mr Pompeo the matter would be decided after Sudan’s transitional bodies were formed, government spokesman Faisal Saleh said.
A legislative body to serve alongside the ruling council and the government has not yet been established.
Washington imposed sanctions on Sudan over its alleged support for militant groups and the civil war in Darfur.
Trade sanctions were lifted in 2017.
After a meeting with Mr Hamdok on Monday, a coalition representing the protesters who helped to topple Al Bashir last year said that the transitional government had no mandate to decide on normalising ties with Israel.
The coalition, known as Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, also “emphasised the right of the Palestinian people to their land and the right to a free and dignified life”.
Sudan hosted the Arab League conference after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The eight countries approved the “three noes”: no peace with Israel; no recognition of Israel; and no negotiations.
But hostility subsided in recent years and both countries have expressed readiness to normalise relations.
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
Company%20Profile
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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.”
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
