ABU DHABI // The speed limit is 80kph, but no one seems to care.
To overtake lorries, impatient car drivers swing out into the lane for oncoming traffic, with no barriers between the carriageways to stop them.
Any vehicle approaching head-on is often invisible because of the high sand dunes that turn every hilltop into a deadly game of Russian roulette.
As cars race past them, lorry drivers move over to the hard shoulder – if they can see it, because lane markings are rare.
Slower moving cars shake as lorries whizz past them, missing by only a couple of inches.
This is the eery, uninviting and nerve-wracking E30 Abu Dhabi-Al Ain truck road, where 24 people died in a horrific lorry and bus crash on Monday.
The surprise is not that this fatal accident happened. The surprise, on this deadly road, is that such a tragedy has not happened before.
Monday’s crash is thought to have been the deadliest on the nation’s roads.
A lorry ploughed into the back of a bus carrying 45 maintenance workers about 35 kilometres from Al Ain, next to Al Rawda Palace. It overturned on top of the bus, leaving the victims suffocating under its 75-tonne load of sand and building material.
Police say the lorry was travelling too close behind the bus, and when the bus slowed to turn left into the palace, the lorry’s brakes failed.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this road is an accident waiting to happen.
Not only are the sides of the old truck road not protected by any barriers, but a large part of it lacks any kind of lane marking, making it virtually impossible to discern which lane to stick to.
Whenever drivers are lucky enough to have road signs, a large chunk of them are displayed only in Arabic.
Bulky pieces of gravel are often blown into the middle of the road, while random holes in the ground surprise drivers every now and again, causing them to skid sideways.
Drivers are obliged to keep their eyes glued to the road, as lorries are constantly overtaking other vehicles at wild speeds.
The dark orange sand hugging the sides of the road is the only "safety net" for anyone who might be forced to veer off to avoid an incoming vehicle.
On some parts of the road, three lanes are suddenly reduced to a narrow single carriageway, meaning drivers have to trust each other to judge their speed and direction absolutely accurately.
The occasional pedestrian can be seen strolling along the side of the road, taking his life in his hands and hoping to hitch a lift with one of the vehicles racing along the highway.
And every now and then there are telltale black skid-marks zigzagging across the surface, evidence that the road is no stranger to accidents and near misses.
As the sun starts to set, darkness takes over with almost no road lights in sight. All that can be distinguished are the lorries’ large headlights, moving at an alarmingly high speed.
Only a couple of the road’s roundabouts are illuminated, before drivers find themselves thrust back into pitch-black darkness.
This is not a road for the faint-hearted.
cmalek@thenational.ae
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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.”
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
Specs
Engine: 2-litre
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 255hp
Torque: 273Nm
Price: Dh240,000
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
