Stonemasons Ojor and Raju take their lunch break sitting on a pavement near the smart central Doha complex they have helped build as Qatar prepares to host the 2022 World Cup in exactly four years' time.
"I made a mistake coming here," says Ojor, 22, from Nepal. "I took so much money from the bank [to pay recruitment fees], I don't have anything in my hand."
Both men have been working on the project for the past three years and earn the monthly minimum wage of 750 Qatari riyals (Dh752.7).
Raju, a 39-year-old Bangladeshi dressed in the blue overalls that have become ubiquitous in the gas-rich emirate, smiles gently as he talks about his contract finishing in a few months.
"I will never come back again," he says.
Since 2010 when then-Fifa president Sepp Blatter revealed Qatar would host the 2022 football World Cup - to almost global shock - the country has faced unprecedented scrutiny. Blatter is now banned from Fifa activities.
Much of the scrutiny has been on the plight of huge numbers of migrant labourers, many from Asia, who have swollen Qatar's population from 1.63 million at the time of Blatter's announcement to today's record 2.74 million.
Trade unions, human rights groups, and recently the United Nations' International Labour Organisation have joined forces to challenge Qatar over its sponsorship, system.
An international row has rumbled over the number of people killed on construction projects, more than 1,200 according to one union's estimate.
That claim has been vigorously denied by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar's World Cup organising body.
But Doha has been forced into reforms including a minimum wage, salary protection and the partial abolition of the exit visa, under which workers needed a boss's permission to leave the country.
The ILO has called the move a "significant step".
More than 12,000 workers employed directly on World Cup projects are expected to share reimbursements of 52 million riyals for being forced to pay illegal recruitment fees to come to Qatar, says the Supreme Committee.
Evidence of Qatar's transformation, fuelled by vast gas revenues, is everywhere - stadiums, roads, railways, hotels, malls, bridges and the office and residential complex where Ojor and Raju work.
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However, the World Cup, which begins on November 21, 2022, still feels a long way away off for the stonemasons and their colleagues, some of whom wear the shirts of teams such as Chelsea under their overalls.
"The expectation was that a World Cup would give me good job security," says Mukesh, a 23-year-old labourer from Nepal.
"But we have been told that by 2021 they will remove all the labourers from here."
He works 10 hours every day, earning three riyals extra per hour for overtime, and says he has no regrets about being in the Gulf.
"We were doing nothing at home and we are earning here," he says.
A football fan, he wants to watch his hero Cristiano Ronaldo in 2022 and support Portugal.
"But I don't think it is possible for any workers to see matches," he says smiling.
Workers complain about low wages, delays in being paid, and the high cost of living.
Almost all the workers asked by AFP say they had not heard about the international lobbying on their behalf.
But Prince, a safety officer from Nigeria, found out about the safety campaigns via YouTube.
"I want to save to go to the US," says the 31-year-old.
"I don't like the life I am living here, I do the same thing every day, it is hard work, there are no parties or anything. We are not allowed to do anything here."
Those who have been in Qatar for longer periods say their conditions have hardly changed.
Arnold, from the Philippines, says he has been in Qatar since 2009 and the country has given him "peace of mind".
"Nine years is enough though," he says.
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Napoleon
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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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.”
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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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
