KHARTOUM // Fuel price hikes that sparked deadly protests in Sudan were aimed at preventing economic meltdown, President Omar Al Bashir said yesterday, in his first comments on the unrest that has left simmering discontent.
“The latest economic measures aim at preventing the collapse of the economy following the increase in inflation and instability in the exchange rate,” the official Suna news agency quoted him as saying.
Mr Bashir also spoke of “conspiracies being planted by the saboteurs against our country”.
On September 23 the government cut petrol subsidies, driving up pump prices by more than 60 per cent.
The move was part of a series of measures designed to stabilise an economy plagued by inflation and a weakening currency since South Sudan separated in 2011, taking with it most of Sudan’s oil production.
The lost oil accounted for the majority of Khartoum’s export earnings, costing the country billions of dollars.
But the reduction of subsidies on petroleum will save billions, the government says.
Mr Bashir said the economy has suffered “negative impact” from the separation of the South and the disappearance of oil revenue.
But the public struggled to understand why their “brothers and daughters” had been shot dead during protests.
“Peaceful demonstration is a civic right,” Mr Bashir said, while Suna added that he “asked God to have mercy upon the martyrs”.
Yusif Mohammed, 50, a teacher whose brother was killed in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman, said “we are very angry about what happened because those protesters, their only weapons were stones and their shouts.
“Why were they gunned down?”
Osama Mohammed, 47, who works in a private company, said: “After the deaths of those youths we will not keep silent”.
People were tired of talk of reform by a regime that has been in power for 24 years, said Osama Mohammed, who lives in Omdurman, which is home to most of the capital region’s poor.
Inflation rose to more than 40 per cent earlier this year but fell to 22.9 per cent by August, according to official data.
Such figures do not appear to correlate with local market prices, which have continued to rise.
Last week’s unrest sent the Sudanese pound lower, to around eight pounds to the dollar.
On the widely used black market, the pound has now lost about 50 per cent of its value over the past two years.
Authorities say 34 people have died since petrol and diesel prices jumped, sending thousands into the streets in the worst urban unrest during Mr Bashir’s rule.
He took power in a 1989 Islamist-backed coup.
However, the real death toll was difficult to determine but “could be as much as 200,” a foreign diplomat said.
“Our neighbour was killed in a demonstration. After what happened, we have lost confidence in this government,” said Sosan Bashir, 35, a civil servant who lives in North Khartoum.
“Why did they kill our brothers and daughters?”
Senior members of the Sudanese Congress Party, a small opposition party with a base in universities, confirmed their president Ibrahim Elsheikh had been arrested on Tuesday.
Congress belongs to an opposition alliance seeking a peaceful end to Bashir’s regime. The alliance said three officials of the Baath and Communist parties had also been rounded up.
Protesters have echoed calls for the downfall of the regime made during the 2011 Arab Spring revolts, which toppled longtime rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
Mr Bashir saluted “the role being played by the people to foil the conspiracies being planted by the saboteurs against our country,” Suna said.
The government says it has arrested hundreds of “criminals” and had to intervene last week when crowds turned violent, attacking petrol stations and police facilities.
* Agence France-Presse
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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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IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.