Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited Cairo and met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Wednesday to witness the signing of a co-operation protocol between both their countries' militaries.
After the signing ceremony, Mr El Sisi affirmed Egypt's commitment to preserving Somalia's territorial integrity and rejected “any intervention in its internal affairs”.
During the press conference held after the meeting, Mr Mohamud lauded the historic pact as a “testament to a future of common defence against the international terrorism we are combating both at home and abroad.”
He further asserted that the agreement serves as a “blueprint for the exchange of knowledge and expertise in the pursuit of regional, continental, and international peace and security.”
Mr El Sisi offered his condolences to Mr Mohamud and the Somali people for the recent terrorist attack in Mogadishu. He congratulated Somalia on the lifting of international sanctions and its upcoming term on the UN Security Council in 2025-2026, on which it was awarded a non-permanent seat in April.
Mr El Sisi highlighted the steps taken to improve ties, including the reopening of a revamped Egyptian embassy in Mogadishu the resumption of Egyptair flights between Cairo and the Somali capital, and the presence of Egypt's Banque Misr in Somalia.
He underscored Egypt's stance of non-interference and respect for national sovereignty. “We always call for construction, development and reconstruction, and we never interfere in the affairs of states,” he said. “What governs our policy paths is respect for international law, international norms, and the sovereignty of states.”
Mr El Sisi said he was ready to contribute troops to an African Union peacekeeping force stationed in Somalia, but “only if we are asked to”.
Egypt has repeatedly voiced its support of Somalia's unity and its rejection of an agreement signed between Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Muse Bihi Abdi, the President of Somaliland, a region of Somalia with separatist ambitions.
The Ethiopia-Somaliland deal, denounced by Egypt and Somalia since its signing in January, would provide landlocked Ethiopia with 20km of Somalia’s coastline which it intends to use to build a naval base.
The naval base is viewed as a threat to Egypt’s military supremacy in the Red Sea and portions of its Africa-bound maritime trade, which Addis Ababa’s port would partly receive instead.
“The defence pact between Somalia and Egypt was an example of astute manoeuvring by Cairo which has been trying to rally African support in its dispute with Ethiopia over the Rennaissance Dam,” African affairs analyst Hatim Dirdiri told The National.
“Egypt was able to leverage the rifts between Ethiopia and its neighbours in the Horn of Africa. The pact took everyone by surprise, most of all Abiy Ahmed, who was confronted with the reality that Ethiopia's bid for power in the region was estranging it from its neighbours.”
The deal has worsened relations between Cairo and Addis Ababa. Both nations have had strained ties over Ethiopia’s construction of a mega dam on the Blue Nile, seen by Egypt as an existential threat to its share of the Nile’s waters.
On Monday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who met with Mr Mohamud in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, earlier this week at the inauguration of President Paul Kagame, reaffirmed Egypt’s “unwavering support for Somali sovereignty and the unity and security of its lands”.
A round of indirect talks held between Ethiopia and Somali officials on Tuesday ended with no final resolution and with both sides largely fixed in their positions.
The talks, held in Ankara and mediated by Turkey, did not include any face-to-face meetings with representatives of both sides but involved messages being sent through Turkish intermediaries, diplomatic sources told the Anadolu Agency.
The Somali Foreign Ministry thanked Turkey for hosting the talks and said that it intended to participate in a future round of talks. However, a ministry statement said that it remained “steadfast in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Earlier this week, Mr Ahmed called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and emphasised Addis Ababa's commitment to gaining sea access.
In April, Somalia recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia. Mogadishu then announced a defence pact with Cairo which was ratified by the Somali parliament in July.
The pact came months after remarks from Mr El Sisi made during a joint press conference in January with Mr Sheikh Mohamud who was in Cairo at the time, ostensibly aimed at Ethiopia.
“Egypt will not allow anyone to threaten Somalia or affect its security,” Mr El Sisi said. “Do not try Egypt, or try to threaten its brothers especially if they ask it to intervene.”
Somaliland, a region in the north-west of Somalia, declared its independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Somali central government. Formerly known as British Somaliland during the colonial era, the region briefly gained independence in 1960 before uniting with Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.
However, Somalilanders felt marginalised by the central government in Mogadishu, leading to a rebellion in the 1980s. After a civil war in which the central government collapsed, Somaliland unilaterally declared its independence, citing the right to self-determination and the desire to establish a stable, democratic state.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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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