ADEN // Dozens of soldiers and employees of the Houthi-run interior ministry took to the streets of Sanaa on Saturday morning, demanding their salaries which have gone unpaid for the last four months.
Protests are unusual in areas held by the Shiite rebels where demonstrations are banned.
A soldier who works at the interior ministry and took part in Saturday’s protest told The National the Houthis threatened to shoot demonstrators after they blocked the road leading to Sanaa’s airport.
“The Houthis tried to end the protest by threatening us with their Kalashnikovs, but as soldiers we did not fear their weapons and so did not leave the street until noon,” he said.
Public sector salaries have been affected in rebel-held areas since the country’s internationally-recognised president, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, moved the central bank from Sanaa to the temporary capital of Aden in June, accusing the Houthis of running down Yemen’s foreign reserves.
Since then the rebels have refused to send the incomes of provinces under their control – which are mainly made up of taxes – to the central bank in Aden. Without these funds, for the past four months Mr Hadi’s government has said it is unable to pay the wages of public sector employees in Houthi-held areas.
On Saturday, however, prime minister Ahmed bin Dagher said his Aden-based administration would begin transferring salaries to state employees in areas controlled by the rebels.
According to the state-run Saba news agency, Mr bin Dagher said government workers “across all provinces” would receive their salaries at post offices and exchange outlets, although it was not clear when exactly this would be.
The interior ministry soldier who spoke to The National warned that if employees did not receive their salaries in the next few days the demonstrators would escalate their protests and “may set up tents in the street”.
The majority of employees at state-run institutions have continued to turn up for work despite not being paid, with only workers at some universities, including Sanaa University, going on strike in protest.
“The salary is the right of our children and we cannot [make enough money to feed our families without it], so we have to fight for it – otherwise our children will starve to death,” the interior ministry soldier said.
The dispute over salaries has been taking place against the backdrop of Yemen’s civil war, which began in September 2014 when the Houthis captured Sanaa, forcing the government to relocate to Aden. The government is being supported in its battle against the rebels by a Saudi-led military coalition of mainly Arab countries.
An overnight air strike by the coalition on a rebel gathering in the western port city of Hodeidah killed nine Houthis, a security official said. The city, which is the capital of Hodeidah province, is controlled by the rebels.
The strike came as government forces and allied fighters continued their week-long advance in the Dhubab region of Taez province, close to the Bab Al Mandeb strait which links the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
The bodies of 12 Houthis were taken to a hospital in Hodeidah following clashes in Dhubab on Friday night, a medical official said, adding that the facility also admitted 23 wounded rebels. Hodeidah lies some 200 kilometres north of Dhubab.
A medical official at a hospital in Aden, meanwhile, said five pro-government fighters were killed and 14 others wounded in the clashes.
Forces loyal to Mr Hadi and allied fighters from the Popular Resistance have entered the town of Dhubab and seized its local government headquarters.
Popular Resistance commander Abdelrahman Al Muharami said the loyalists had also recaptured large parts of Al Omeri military base in mountains overlooking the coast, but warned there were still some rebel pockets in the base.
On Thursday the Emirates Red Crescent provided 2,700 parcels of food aid to families in the Bab Al Mandeb area who are facing dire economic conditions, state news agency Wam reported on Saturday.
The government and its allies recaptured Bab Al Mandab in October 2015, pushing the rebels further north. But the Houthis still control nearly all of Yemen’s Red Sea coast to the north, posing what the coalition says is a threat to international shipping.
Also on Friday, the Pentagon said a US air strike had killed a senior regional Al Qaeda operative in the central Yemeni province of Baida.
The January 8 strike killed Abd Al Ghani Al Rasas, said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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The specs: 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Cabriolet
Price, base: Dh429,090
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 700Nm @ 1,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Men from Barca's class of 99
Crystal Palace - Frank de Boer
Everton - Ronald Koeman
Manchester City - Pep Guardiola
Manchester United - Jose Mourinho
Southampton - Mauricio Pellegrino
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors
Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km
Price: from Dh199,900
On sale: now
Company profile: buybackbazaar.com
Name: buybackbazaar.com
Started: January 2018
Founder(s): Pishu Ganglani and Ricky Husaini
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech, micro finance
Initial investment: $1 million
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
Honeymoonish
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE%20ILT20
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CRICKET%20WORLD%20CUP%20LEAGUE%202
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Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
