Tribal violence in Sudan’s southern Blue Nile state has spread to other parts of the country, threatening to add a disastrous layer to the country’s deepening political and economic woes.
The violence in Blue Nile, which began a week ago, has killed 79 people and injured more than 200, the Health Ministry in Khartoum says.
Authorities there on Friday imposed a night-time curfew and a ban on public gatherings.
Police and troop reinforcements have arrived in the state to maintain order.
The clashes between Blue Nile’s Berti and Hausa tribes followed the rejection by the Bertis of a request to create a "civil authority to supervise access to land", say reports on the cause of the violence.
But a senior member of the Bertis said the violence erupted when the tribe responded to a "violation" of its lands by the Hausas.
On Monday, the violence spread to other cities outside Blue Nile, with the Hausas setting up barricades and attacking government buildings.
In the eastern city of Kassala, the government banned public gatherings after several thousand Hausa people "set government buildings and shops on fire", witnesses said.
Authorities there said three people were killed and 15 injured in the violence.
In the city of Wad Madani south of Khartoum, hundreds of Hausa people put up stone barricades and burned tyres on a main Nile bridge, witnesses said.
Pro-democracy activists and experts say a military coup led by army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan last October has created a security vacuum that has brought about a resurgence in tribal violence, in a country where deadly clashes regularly erupt over land, livestock, access to water and grazing.
They also suspect that Sudan's military and former rebel leaders who signed a 2020 peace deal of exacerbating ethnic tension in Blue Nile for personal gain.
The violence in Blue Nile follows a wave of tribal clashes in the restive Darfur region that killed hundreds, injured thousands and displaced tens of thousands.
The Hausas are one of Africa’s largest ethnic groups, with tens of millions of members living in several countries.
There are three million Hausas in Sudan, most of whom are Muslims who speak their own native language besides Arabic.
They mostly live off agriculture in Darfur, Al Jazeera state in central Sudan and in the eastern states of Kassala, Gedaref, Sennar and Blue Nile.
Sudan has since the coup been embroiled in a political crisis, with its delicate democratic transition in tatters and its economy devastated by high energy prices, food shortages and the suspension by the West of billions of dollars’ worth of in aid and debt forgiveness.
The country has also been steadily slipping back into the pariah status it suffered for most of the 29 years former dictator Omar Al Bashir was in power.
Beside decrying the derailment of the democratic transition, the West has repeatedly protested against the killing of unarmed, anti-military protesters by security forces since October.
At least 114 protesters have been killed and about 6,000 injured since the coup.
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Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
GOLF’S RAHMBO
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- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
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UPI facts
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Marathon results
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1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
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5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
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3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
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MATCH INFO
Kolkata Knight Riders 245/6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 214/8 (20 ovs)
Kolkata won by 31 runs
The biogs
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'Gehraiyaan'
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Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
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David Haye record
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Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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.”
FIXTURES
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Saturday
Fiorentina v Torino (8pm)
Hellas Verona v Roma (10.45pm)
Sunday
Parma v Napoli (2.30pm)
Genoa v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (8pm)
Juventus v Sampdoria (10.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Bologna (10.45om)
Playing September 30
Benevento v Inter Milan (8pm)
Udinese v Spezia (8pm)
Lazio v Atalanta (10.45pm)
