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An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plane departed from the Jordanian capital Amman, landing in the city of Port Sudan on Sunday as the flow of humanitarian aid to Sudan, now in its 15th day of war, increased.
The flight had an eight-tonne cargo that included surgical supplies for hospitals and volunteers of the Sudan Red Crescent Society, the ICRC said.
“Healthcare workers in Sudan have been doing the impossible, caring for the wounded without water, electricity, and basic medical supplies,” said Patrick Youssef, ICRC’s regional director for Africa.
“The logistics needed to bring in supplies in a conflict are extremely difficult, and we’re relieved to get this medical material into the country.”
Sudan's Doctors' Union said that hospitals and blood banks were being looted, while ambulances were attacked and stopped from reaching their destinations.
More than 65 per cent of hospitals in affected areas were out of service, the union said, and nearly 20 per cent were evacuated.
The ICRC said a second aid flight was being prepared with more medical supplies and emergency personnel, but it did not say when it would leave.
The supplies, including anaesthetics, dressings, sutures and other surgical material, are enough to treat more than 1,000 people, the ICRC said.
“The hope is to get this material to some of the most critically busy hospitals in the capital” of Khartoum and other hot spots, said Mr Youssef.
On Friday, the EU said it had allocated €200,000 ($222,550) to provide relief for people wounded in Khartoum and other conflict areas.
The EU aid will also assist the Sudanese Red Crescent and offer psychosocial support to about 70,000 people in Khartoum, Northern State, North Kordofan, South Darfur and North Darfur, it said.
“We have been receiving reports about loss of life, including the killing of humanitarian workers,” said Janez Lenarcic, EU commissioner for crisis management.
“I strongly urge for full respect for international humanitarian law, protection of civilians and the safety and security of aid workers, premises and assets so that they can provide emergency assistance to those affected.”
Fighting has continued despite the warring paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army agreeing to a renewed 72-hour ceasefire on Friday. Witnesses and residents continue to report breaches in the form of air strikes and shelling.
The ICRC said its teams will need “guarantees of safe passage from the parties to the conflict to deliver this material to medical facilities in locations with active fighting, such as Khartoum”.
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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.”
