The $10 billion (Dh36.7bn) brought in from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's energy infrastructure deal with six global institutions and funds is a testament to the strength of the UAE as a destination for foreign direct investment despite the economic uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, analysts said.
Korea’s NH Investment & Securities, Singapore’s GIC, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Italy’s Snam, Global Infrastructure Partners and Brookfield Asset Management are together taking a 49 per cent stake in a newly formed Adnoc subsidiary which will have the lease rights to 38 natural gas pipelines, covering a total of 982 kilometres.
"Globally there has been a huge drop in investments into the oil and gas sector. [But] Adnoc in the UAE and the likes of it in the region are very attractive for foreign investors,” Mazen Al Sudairi, head of research at Al Rajhi Capital in Riyadh, said, adding that the company’s diversification across the oil and gas value chain to become a more integrated firm adds to its value.
“When the oil market is down and capex is being rational, the most attractive is the GCC market, because the cost of production is low and level of reserves are very healthy, above the global average,” he said.
Global FDI is set to fall this year due to the coronavirus pandemic that has jolted the global economy, which is now facing the deepest recession since the World War II.
“The global FDI outlook is likely to become more challenging given the economic outlook and corporate and government pressures to localise supply/supply chain, so countries will be aiming to get a bigger slice of a smaller pie of investment,” Scott Livermore, chief economist at Oxford Economics Middle East, said.
However, the stability of the UAE, the Arab world’s second-biggest economy, its connectivity with the rest of the world and its advance infrastructure places it “in a good position to remain competitive in the FDI market place”, he said.
The pandemic, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), is expected to slash FDI flows globally by as much as 40 per cent this year. Even before the outbreak foreign investments waned in 2018-19 on the back of the trade war between the US and China. The UAE, however, bucked the trend and was the largest recipient of FDI in West Asia. Investment into the country climbed to nearly $14bn in 2019, rising by a third from a year earlier, according to the UNCTAD World Investment 2020 report.
The US ride-hailing firm Uber’s acquisition of Careem for $3.1bn grabbed headlines in 2019, but the FDI flows into the UAE were underpinned by several big-ticket oil and gas investment deals. BlackRock, KKR and GIC were involved in a deal with Adnoc for its oil pipeline assets that brought in about $5bn. Italy’s Eni and Austria's OMV both took stakes in Adnoc's refining unit, the deals worth a combined $5.5bn.
Innovation and artificial technology are the upcoming sectors ripe for investment as the country continues to pivot to digitalising its economy amid the global pandemic.
The UAE, which has the sixth-largest oil and gas reserves in the world, is diversifying its economy to cut its reliance on sale of hydrocarbons for revenue. At the core of its economic diversification strategy is the government’s plan for rapid digitalisation of society.
On the federal level, the UAE Cabinet's AI 2031 plan aims to attract tens of billions of dollars in foreign direct investment over the next decade. And the world's first dedicated artificial intelligence university, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence is set to open in January in Abu Dhabi.
“There is certainly a scope for FDI into digital [economy] sector because there is very good infrastructure for that [in the UAE],” Mr Al Sudairi said.
“If you look at digitalisation, we are moving more now into the next phase [of investments]. We are now moving more into AI, especially in education and healthcare, where it has become imperative to invest more in digitalisation of services: the coronavirus has changed social behaviours.”
UAE firms over the years have invested in technology and life sciences companies outside the country, but with the government’s pivot to digitalisation at home, “their own market is [now] very attractive of course - it is ripe”, Mr Al Sudairi said.
Mr Livermore of Oxford Economics said “the oil sector will remain important for FDI, but also new and emerging sectors that will come out of the crisis strong – government policy will be looking to support digital, health, education, creative … sectors as it focuses on supporting the post-Covid-19 economy.”
The country was ranked 19th in the 2020 Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index released on Sunday.
The details
Heard It in a Past Life
Maggie Rogers
(Capital Records)
3/5
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Profile
Company name: Marefa Digital
Based: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
Number of employees: seven
Sector: e-learning
Funding stage: Pre-seed funding of Dh1.5m in 2017 and an initial seed round of Dh2m in 2019
Investors: Friends and family
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Abu%20Dhabi%E2%80%99s%20Racecard
%3Cp%3E%0D5pm%3A%20Al%20Bithnah%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(Turf)%201%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3E5.30pm%3A%20Al%20Khari%20%E2%80%93%20Hanidcap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3E6pm%3A%20Al%20Qor%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3E6.30pm%3A%20Wathba%20Stallions%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh70%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3E7pm%3A%20Al%20Badiyah%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%202%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3E7.30pm%3A%20Al%20Hayl%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%202%2C200m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner Canvassed, Par Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
Winner Dubai Future, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Mouheeb, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
8.15pm Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
9.50pm Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Man Of Promise, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Ponti
Sharlene Teo, Pan Macmillan
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania
Verdict: 4 Stars
Results
Catchweight 60kg: Mohammed Al Katheeri (UAE) beat Mostafa El Hamy (EGY) TKO round 3
Light Heavyweight: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) no contest Kevin Oumar (COM) Unintentional knee by Oumer
Catchweight 73kg: Yazid Chouchane (ALG) beat Ahmad Al Boussairy (KUW) Unanimous decision
Featherweight: Faris Khaleel Asha (JOR) beat Yousef Al Housani (UAE) TKO in round 2 through foot injury
Welterweight: Omar Hussein (JOR) beat Yassin Najid (MAR); Split decision
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Sallah Eddine Dekhissi (MAR); Round-1 TKO
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali Musalim (UAE) beat Medhat Hussein (EGY); Triangle choke submission
Welterweight: Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) beat Sofiane Oudina (ALG); Triangle choke Round-1
Lightweight: Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Saleem Al Bakri (JOR); Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Nawras Abzakh (JOR); TKO round-2
Catchweight 63kg: Rany Saadeh (PAL) beat Abdel Ali Hariri (MAR); Unanimous decision
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
