This year, Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company celebrates 50 years of helping the people and companies of the UAE identify, mitigate and manage risk.
The insurer’s journey has always closely tracked that of the UAE. With the country placing sustainable development and the transition to the green economy at the centre of its bold plans for the next half century, these have also become focal points for companies like Adnic looking to positively contribute to the UAE’s future.
Adnic chief executive Ahmad Idris says a key function of insurance is to support innovation and investment. “As a UAE-headquartered insurer, we have closely watched how the UAE’s sustainability journey has been shaped by these two forces over many decades,” Mr Idris says.
Mr Idris points to the creation of Masdar in 2006 as a pivotal moment that established a global leader in renewable energy. Further momentum has come from initiatives like Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, now approaching its 10th edition, and the country announcing the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative last year — making the UAE the first Middle East and North Africa nation to do so — supported by investment in renewable energy exceeding Dh600 billion ($163.3bn).
As new green infrastructure and clean energy projects break ground in the UAE to achieve net zero by 2050, Adnic says the country’s insurers will step in to provide cover and confidence at every stage, from planning through to delivery and ongoing operation.
“Given the size of its sustainability ambitions and the depth of its expertise across so many different areas, from science to finance, it also follows that the UAE is well placed to lead in the development and deployment of insurance products and business models designed to support sustainability goals,” Mr Idris says.
“It is a hugely significant area for the industry that will only grow in importance over the coming years, with the UAE well placed to serve as a key global hub.”
Embedding sustainability principles into their operations is another way the UAE’s insurers can contribute to the country’s ambitious net-zero goals, says Adnic. These principles have important implications for the way insurers mitigate risks, manage investments, operate their businesses, engage with stakeholders and deliver profitability over the long term. At Adnic, Mr Idris says, sustainability is an integral part of doing business and the company is committed to creating value for all and continuously reducing its impact on the environment.
Adnic’s ESG journey started quite some time ago. The company has invested in the holistic well-being and protection of its clients, employees and the community at large. With this in mind, Adnic launched many supportive measures and initiatives and continues to actively support local communities through philanthropic partnerships. For instance, the company has partnered with Emirates Nature-WWF to contribute to local conservation projects and help pave the way for the UAE to achieve its net-zero goals.
In efforts to reduce energy waste across offices, electricity usage, greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption decreased between 2019 and 2021. Last year, Adnic sent 10,000 kilograms of paper to be shredded, which was then sent to a recycling centre to be processed into recycled paper products. In an industry that is heavily reliant on paper documentation, Adnic is combating paper waste by digitalising its services and activities.
“The UAE’s insurers are primed and ready to rise to the challenge set by the country’s bold net-zero ambitions,” believes Mr Idris. Whether by de-risking innovation and green mega projects or by introducing new specialist sustainability insurance expertise and products into the market, he believes the sector will play an important role in the years to come.
Mr Idris concludes: “As we celebrate 50 years of operations, Adnic is also looking to the future and to working alongside its partners and customers to be part of enabling a greener, more sustainable future for all.”
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
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If you go:
Getting there:
Flying to Guyana requires first reaching New York with either Emirates or Etihad, then connecting with JetBlue or Caribbean Air at JFK airport. Prices start from around Dh7,000.
Getting around:
Wildlife Worldwide offers a range of Guyana itineraries, such as its small group tour, the 15-day ‘Ultimate Guyana Nature Experience’ which features Georgetown, the Iwokrama Rainforest (one of the world’s four remaining pristine tropical rainforests left in the world), the Amerindian village of Surama and the Rupununi Savannah, known for its giant anteaters and river otters; wildlifeworldwide.com
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
De De Pyaar De
Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
