Residents in Ajman and Umm Al Quwain face higher utility bills

Residents of Ajman and Umm Al Quwain face higher water and electricity bills this year after the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa) announced new tariffs for the Northern Emirates.

They were told of the increased charges, to come into effect this month, in leaflets delivered with last month’s bills.

“We are grateful they took the task to notify us and we did not just find ourselves with increased and unexplained tariffs,” said Mohammed Sadiq, of Karama in Ajman.

“But still the increases are going to be stressful this year with almost everything going up.”

Umar Badini, a resident of Rashidiya in Ajman, said the rise in utility bills, even by a few dirhams each month, coincided with increases in rents and the general cost of living in the Northern Emirates.

“I have a very tight budget and can no longer afford paying extra money in utility bills every month,” said Mr Badini.

He said he was prepared to cut the amount of electricity he used in cooler months, but was worried about the charges in summer when his home’s air-conditioning units work almost around the clock.

“Still, I need to do more cuts especially with the air conditioner once the hot season sets in,” Mr Badini said.

The increased charges apply only to expatriates. The tariff for Emirati residents remains unchanged.

Fewa’s note to customers stated: “The electricity and water consumption tariff for some consumer categories has been revised, starting from January 2014.

“This is in line with our goal to help the UAE become a global leader in conservation and efficiency.”

Under the new tariffs for electricity, a monthly bill for up to 2,000 kilowatt-hours will rise from the current 20 fils for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) to 23 fils.

For bills of between 2,001 and 4,000 kWh, the rate has increased from 24 fils to 28 fils a kWh.

For water use, tariffs increased from 3 fils a gallon to 3.5 fils for monthly use of up to 6,000 gallons.

Households using between 6,001 and 12,000 gallons of water will pay 4 fils, up from 3.5 fils, and homes using more than 12,001 gallons of water a month will pay 4.6 fils a gallon, up from 4 fils.

Charges have also increased for businesses in the Northern Emirates.

Taji, who runs a laundry in Rashidiya, said he was considering increasing prices to cover the higher tariffs for water and electricity, but feared he would lose customers.

“We have not yet decided on what new prices,” said Taji. “Our problem is that we have no solidarity so some of us may increase and others don’t. That simply means we shall be out of business for increasing.”

He said the municipality’s health inspectors should carry out strict checks around Ajman when the new fees were charged, as some grocery store owners could be tempted to switch off their refrigerators in the evening, which could put the health of customers at risk.

More than 1,200 shops were visited in Sharjah last year and 83 fines handed out to owners for turning off refrigerators used to store food. Inspectors also confiscated 720 kilograms of food that had gone bad as a result.

Fewa could not reached for comment.

ykakande@thenational.ae

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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A foster couple or family must:

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have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

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