Nearly two and a half years ago, the headline on a column of mine read: It's time the world heard the real story of this country. In it, I bemoaned the way in which the foreign media often tends to present a less-than-balanced picture of the UAE, focussing on points to criticise, sometimes fairly, while overlooking the positive aspects of the country's development, from infrastructure to education, from cultural and religious tolerance to conservation.
It’s fair to note, though, that this is often due to the fact that we’re not very good at telling our own story, or, in a colloquial phrase, "blowing our own trumpet".
A couple of incidents over the last few months have brought that point home to me.
Most people in the UAE, I suspect, are well aware that the country has a remarkable record as a donor of international assistance. Much is provided as an emergency response to humanitarian catastrophes, both natural and man-made, with more in the form of soft loans and grants for development projects. Overall, year after year, it's a pretty impressive amount, from which hundreds of thousands of people benefit.
Bodies like the United Nations identify the UAE as one of the most generous donors in the world, in terms of the aid provided per capita each year. We read of that in our media; it's frequently mentioned in speeches. It's part of who we are as a country.
Yet, to my surprise, I find that abroad, among people who are themselves actively engaged in the sphere of overseas aid, there’s sometimes little knowledge of what we view as a routine, normal part of the UAE’s engagement with the outside world.
Last summer, during a visit home to the British Channel Island of Jersey, I met with the chairman of Jersey Overseas Aid, the island's foreign aid agency. I suggested to her that perhaps, on the next visit by a Jersey Minister to the UAE, it might be useful to seek a meeting with our Minister for International Co-operation to see whether there was scope for collaboration in aid projects, in Jordan, for example, where both Jersey and the UAE are providing help to Syrian refugees. To my amazement, the JOA Chairman was not aware, at all, of the UAE's extensive aid programmes, though I've now sent her a large amount of data.
Last month, a delegation of British Members of Parliament visited the UAE for a familiarisation tour. One of the MPs sits on the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development, the Parliamentary body that oversees the work of the UK’s Department for International Development, DfID.
I gather that, during a meeting with our Minister for International Co-operation, Reem Al Hashimy, this MP asked whether the UAE did anything much in terms of overseas aid and humanitarian assistance. If the Minister’s jaw dropped, metaphorically or otherwise, one can forgive her for her response.
It’s all very well for us to express surprise that a British politician engaged on overseas aid issues is so poorly informed – not least because the UK and the UAE often collaborate during humanitarian disasters. Of course the MP concerned should have known at least something about what we do, even if her main focus is on the UK’s record.
At the same time, in Jersey, in the UK and perhaps elsewhere too, there’s clearly a need for the UAE to work harder to explain what we’re doing. While we may engage with governments and relief agencies, the message about our aid programmes is clearly not getting through to precisely the audiences that should be interested.
That’s not good enough. It’s all very well for us to pat ourselves on the back about what is, after all, a pretty creditable record on humanitarian and development aid, but we obviously need to do much more to ensure that it’s more widely known, and understood, abroad.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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.”
