Renewed protests in Egypt yesterday have stepped up pressure on Mohammed Morsi as his government struggles to quell growing political unrest without endangering its prospects for international financial backing crucial to improving the economy.
The protests that began last Friday on the second anniversary of the uprising against Mr Morsi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, have resulted in nearly 60 deaths and unprecedented shows of public defiance of the authorities, and raised fears of the country collapsing into chaos.
Anger over the perception that Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood are attempting to monopolise power has been compounded the government's failure to revive the economy and reduce unemployment - a key trigger of the uprising against Mubarak.
Apart from the geographical spread and intensity of the protests in the past week, of particular significance is the lack of respect shown for state authority. Protesters fought pitched battles with police for days, cut off roads and rail lines, besieged government offices and police headquarters, and burnt or destroyed government property. At times, their chants against the Islamist president the Brotherhood departed from the usual "Leave! Leave!" to include profanities.
Nowhere was the rule of the state challenged more than in the three Suez Canal cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, where thousands of residents staged night marches in defiance of a curfew imposed by Mr Morsi.
Their action handed the embattled president an embarrassing loss of face and further undermined his authority seven months into his term.
Protesters in Port Said even waved "independence" flags of white and green - the colours of the local football team - and declared that they no longer wanted to be part of Islamist-ruled Egypt. A list of the city's demands drawn up by activists and handed out to residents on Friday yesterday was addressed to "Mohammed Morsi, president of the brotherly Arab Republic of Egypt".
While the city's secession is perhaps outright impossible, the emergence of such a notion underlines the depth of resentment at Mr Morsi's rule. Compounding the anger in Port Said was the death sentences handed out to 21 locals on January 26 for their part in Egypt's worst ever football disaster a year ago, when more than 70 visiting fans from the rival Al Ahly club in Cairo were killed in rioting in the city's main stadium shortly after the game ended.
More than 40 of the people to killed in the latest protests were from Port Said.
On the economic front, the slide of the Egyptian pound by nearly 10 per cent over the past month against the US dollar; a further slump in the vital tourism sector, with Christmas and New Year bookings a fraction of their normal levels; and the drop of foreign reserves by more than half to about US$15 billion from their level on the eve of the 2011 revolution, make a decision by the International Monetary Fund on whether to lend Egypt $4.8 billion (Dh17.63bn) particularly crucial. The fund's officials are scheduled to visit the country shortly.
The poor state of the economy coupled with the new political unrest is lending credibility to growing fears expressed by commentators and politicians that a "revolution by the hungry" may be imminent, given the rising unemployment and the drying up of investment.
With poverty widespread, and the gulf between rich and poor that grew in the Mubarak years and has not been addressed by Mr Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood subscribes to the principles of a market economy, many feel that such a revolution would not only bring down the government but also the entire state.
Egypt's army chief and defence minister, Colonel General Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, surprised the nation on Tuesday with a warning of this precise scenario, saying the state would collapse if the political unrest crisis continued. His comments, made to military cadets, amounted to criticism of both Mr Morsi and the opposition. Col Gen Al Sisi's remarks gave no hint of a possible military coup, but did indicate that the military would not remain on the sidelines if things took a turn for the worse.
Mr Morsi's handling of the events of the past week have done him no favours. A day after the deadly January 26 clashes in Port Said, he made an angry televised address spoke to the nation during which he at times screamed and wagged his finger. He thanked the police for their handling of the crisis, which involved incidents of firearms being used on protesters. He also slapped the curfew and a 30-day state of emergency on the three Suez Canal cities, fuelling charges there that the central government was unjustly singling them out for reprisals.
On Wednesday, he left a seething nation behind to visit Germany where he assured his hosts that nothing happening in his country should worry anyone.
"What is happening now in Egypt is natural in nations experiencing a shift to democracy," he said.
He said there was no need to form a unity government, as demanded by the opposition, because a new government will be formed after parliamentary elections, expected in April at the earliest.
Adding insult to injury, on the same day Mr Morsi left for Berlin, his wife flew to the Red Sea resort of Taba on a private plane for a family vacation, according to airport officials.
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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.”
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Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
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.
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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
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.