In 1985, Quincy Jones produced and conducted We Are the World, a rousing charity single written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, to raise funds for African famine relief.
Inspired by the United Kingdom's Band Aid effort, Do They Know It's Christmas a few months earlier, the USA for Africa supergroup brought together dozens of superstars, including Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
A quarter of a century later and Jones decided to revisit the charity single concept – this time in the Arab world. A joint effort with the Emirati social entrepreneur Badr Jafar, Tomorrow/Bokra was unveiled on 11/11/11, a contemporary take on a Jones production reimagined to feature the voices of 24 of the Arab world's biggest singing stars, drawn from 18 nations, including Majida El Roumi, Marwan Khoury and Tamer Hosny.
US rapper Akon also got on board, while Shakira, who is of Lebanese descent, recorded a special introduction for the music video.
The production went on to become one of the fastest-downloaded Arabic songs in history, clocking more than 11 million plays on YouTube alone.
Fast forward to this year and the project's next stage was launched: Bokra the Film.
Making its world premiere at Diff last week, the documentary was screened as a special closing-night gala presentation.
While Jones couldn’t make it to the premiere, the music legend sent a touching introductory video, referencing the song’s original English lyrics by promising “a better me, a better you, a better tomorrow.”
The film tells the story of the song, starting with We Are the World and Jafar's fortuitous meeting with Jones in his youth, and the pair's joint venture in founding the philanthropic Global Gumbo Group.
It charts the summer 2011 recording sessions in Rabat and Qatar, showcasing the roster of stars who turned out, which also included Saber Rebaï, Latifa and Fayez Al Saeed and Sherine Abdel Wahab.
Bokra the Film then moves forward from the song's launch to look at the good it has done. Jafar estimates the single has indirectly raised more than US$1 million (Dh3.67 m) in donations – money that has gone to a variety of charity initiatives including the World Food Programme, Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and Save the Children's innovative HEART initiative. The programme has supported 33 schools, 90 teachers and 4,000 children in Jordan and Palestine.
The film is by first-time Emirati director Ahmed Abdulqader, who took cameras inside impoverished schools to highlight the brave and worthy work the project is helping to fund.
Seeing the positive effect the programme was having on children who had very little else in their lives, Abdulqader was quickly moved and inspired.
Working entirely for free, completing the project became a labour of love – originally signed up for a four-month project, the 33-year-old ended up devoting 18 months to it.
“Because it was a charity project that wasn’t going to pay, it had to be something I loved,” says the director, whose background is in TV commercials and music videos.
Abdulqader landed the job thanks to school friend Ali F Mostafa, the renowned Emirati director of City of Life and From A to B, who co-produced the project alongside Jafar.
Now the team is taking the film to festivals across the world, and hoping to secure distribution. But in many ways, Bokra the Film's real mission is simply to keep the project on people's minds.
“As a director, it’s what it is,” says Abdulqader, “but it’s not about me, or Quincy Jones, or any of us. It’s about the children and this charity, which should continue to go on. The problem is only getting worse.”
The next stage, he says, will be a crowdfunding drive, due to launch next year, with more famous faces tipped to be involved.
“This film is about showcasing the power of the arts,” said Jafar, 35. “There are millions of children and young people out there who we believe could benefit from programmes of this nature. We hope this film shows what can happen, and inspire people to get involved in this or similar projects.
“We have a powerful story to tell, and this film is a powerful example of what can be done – with crowdfunding, the sky is the limit.”
• Find out more on www.tomorrowbokra.org
rgarratt@thenational.ae
ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE FIXTURES
Thursday, September 21
Al Dahfra v Sharjah (kick-off 5.35pm)
Al Wasl v Emirates (8.30pm)
Friday, September 22
Dibba v Al Jazira (5.25pm)
Al Nasr v Al Wahda (8.30pm)
Saturday, September 23
Hatta v Al Ain (5.25pm)
Ajman v Shabab Al Ahli (8.30pm)
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
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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.”
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
