The daily number of Covid-19 cases in Egypt has dipped below 1,000 for the first time in nearly 40 days, giving rise to hope that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic may be behind the most populous Arab nation.
The Health Ministry said late on Monday that it recorded 969 cases over the previous 24 hours, breaking an uninterrupted string of 1,000-plus cases that stretches back to May 27, when 910 cases were confirmed.
While the under-1,000 figure is welcome news amid the grimness brought about by the pandemic, it is likely too soon to interpret it as the start of a downward trend that will eventually see the demise of the deadly disease.
A senior adviser for emergencies at the Health Ministry, Shereef Wadea, cautioned against premature assumptions in comments published on Tuesday in the local media. He said the number of cases must drop for 14 consecutive days before authorities can confidently declare that infections have peaked and numbers would start to fall.
Egyptians have been waiting with some trepidation to see whether figures for Covid-19 cases and deaths this month would rise after the government almost completely reopened the country on June 27 after three months of various degrees of lockdown to contain the pandemic.
Senior government officials have said the curve of infections and deaths was expected to level out during the first half of this month before it is flattened. But these forecasts are yet to be validated. The officials also acknowledge that the actual number of infections may be 10 times those announced by the Health Ministry and may be as much as 1 million.
The government says it has dealt with the pandemic professionally and transparently and dismisses claims of a cover-up as baseless or a plot by its enemies to sow doubts about its efficiency.
In its daily report, the Health Ministry on Monday said 79 people have died of Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours, the second consecutive day in which fewer than 80 people succumbed to the disease. The two days of under-80 fatalities broke a string of 80-plus deaths stretching back to June 18, when 79 died.
The lower figures for Covid-19 cases and fatalities come on the heels of the deadliest month since the pandemic broke out in mid-February, with numbers in June for both categories accounting for more than 50 per cent of those in the previous four months combined.
The number of Covid-19 cases stood at 76,222 as of Monday night, when fatalities reached 3,422, one of the highest in the Arab world.
Egypt has been grappling with the pandemic against a backdrop of a simmering and potentially damaging dispute between the government and members of the medical profession. So far, 117 doctors, 39 nurses and 32 pharmacists have died from Covid-19, while thousands have fallen ill, the Associated Press reported on Monday, citing union statistics.
So, when Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said last month that absenteeism and negligence by doctors in parts of the country were behind a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, members of the medical profession were enraged.
The doctors’ union rejected the accusation and demanded that the prime minister apologise. Mr Madbouli did not offer an apology but later received the head of the union in his office in what appeared to be a conciliatory meeting.
At least 10 doctors have been arrested for publicly criticising the government’s handling of the pandemic, according to rights groups, several of them were detained for publicly vilifying the prime minister or complaining about the alleged shortage of protective gear for medical staff at hospitals.
At least six journalists have also been detained for spreading false news on the pandemic.
President Abdel Fatah El Sisi has lavishly praised members of the medical profession virtually every time he spoke in public in the last three months. A general turned president, he also has adopted the phrase coined by the media to refer to them as “the white army.” He also ordered a significant salary raise for them.
The military, meanwhile, has been distributing free masks and set up several field hospitals for use if the need arises, including one in Cairo with a 4,000-bed capacity. Authorities have also increased the number of testing carried out in response to criticism that not enough testing was being done.
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ICC Academy, November 22-28
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Nov 22, v Malaysia
Nov 23, v Hong Kong
Nov 25, v Bhutan
Nov 26, v Kuwait
Nov 28, v Nepal
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14. Nepal
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25. Hong Kong
34. Kuwait
35. Malaysia
44. Bhutan
UAE squad
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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.”
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