ABU DHABI // The UAE charity, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Foundation, will fund a Dh139.5million motorway between Wana and Angoor Ada in South Waziristan, Pakistan, according to the news agency Wam.
The project, to be named the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Wana-Angoor Ada Highway, was announced this week by the UAE Project to Assist Pakistan (UAE PAP).
It is due for completion by the start of next year, according to Abdullah Al Ghafli, the director of UAE PAP, who was speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad to mark the first anniversary of the organisation.
Construction of the 50km motorway was greeted with enthusiasm by dignitaries at the ceremony.
The UAE's ambassador to Pakistan, Eissa Basha Al Nuaimi, said the project reflected the two country's deep-rooted and long-standing relationship and reiterated the UAE's commitment to assisting reconstruction and development efforts in Pakistan.
"The UAE PAP represents a landmark in relations with Pakistan and is among the pioneering efforts launched in South Asia in response to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals," he said. "The UAE is now the top donor of assistance to Pakistan."
During a ceremony to mark the new project, Mr Al Ghafli said UAE PAP was constructing 51 projects including 41 schools, 10 institutes and colleges. It was planning to build new model schools at a cost of about Dh95m.
Maj Gen Zahir Shah, the environment minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said that with a value of Dh404m, PAP was giving positive results in areas such as education, water, transport and public health.
The UAE is among the top-10 donors of foreign aid.
In 2010, it gave more than Dh2.8billion in foreign aid and pledged the same for future disbursement, according to the UAE Foreign Aid 2010 Report.
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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.”
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In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
Miguel Cotto world titles:
WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017