Sanaa // Ali Al Dailami, closed his computer shop in Yemen’s capital when airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition intensified. Two days later, his shop was looted by local gangs.
“Who do I complain to now? There are no police,” said Mr Al Dailami. “I have had this shop for nine years and this was never the case. I never got robbed.”
Eleven days into a bombing campaign against Houthi rebels, basic services in Yemen’s main cities are gradually vanishing.
Food supplies across the country are running out, petrol stations have run dry and shops remain shuttered as the power vacuum deepens and violence intensifies.
Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world, was already suffering from years of instability and a seven-month-old uprising by the minority Houthis, who seized power in Sanaa and drove south towards Aden, causing the internationally-recognised president to flee late last month.
In response, Saudi Arabia led a coalition of Arab countries, including the UAE, in a military operation against the Iran-backed rebels.
But the daily bombing raids have left the capital in a state of fear and many families have fled to the countryside.
The interior ministry, run by the Houthi rebels, says hundreds of thousands have evacuated the capital.
In Sanaa, businesses like Mr Al Dailami’s have shut down because of the threat from looters and a lack of customers. Parents make sure their children are in bed by sunset; that is the time when the airstrikes escalate.
Petrol stations have shut down in many cities, some because of a lack of fuel to sell and others because of fears over the fighting. At stations still operating in Sanaa, hundreds of vehicles queue outside every day. Some wait for days to fill up.
“After hours of waiting the station runs out of petrol, so we are forced to leave the vehicle lined up for a couple of days until the station is refilled,” said Noman Al Shaibiani, a labourer in Sanaa.
Those who cannot wait resort to purchasing petrol through the black market and pay three times the normal cost.
“I am poor and I can’t pay the extra money,” Mr Al Shaibiani said. “This is because of the Houthi revolution.”
Meanwhile, concern is growing over the humanitarian situation with the Red Cross appealing for an immediate truce to allow families to seek water, food and medical assistance.
As the Saudi-imposed air, land and naval blockade continues, the country’s food shortage is gradually threatening the country. Some shop owners are refusing to sell and instead stockpiling goods to sell later for higher prices.
Yemen’s chamber of commerce announced on Friday that 10 ships carrying food and basic goods were expected to reach the port of Hodeidah within a week. The Houthis are hoping the food shipment is not stopped by the Saudi warships stationed near the port.
Prices of foodstuffs have soared, with the wheat increasing 40 per cent from 4,800 Yemeni rials to 7,500 Yemeni Rials (Dh128) per 50-kilogram sack since the bombing campaign began.
Yemen Economic Corporation, one of Yemen’s largest food storage centres, was destroyed by three coalition missile strikes in Hodeidah last Tuesday, according to the Houthi-controlled defence ministry. The corporation had enough food for the entire country.
The government’s military food storage centre in Hodeidah was also targeted and destroyed on Tuesday, according to the defence ministry.
Also in Hodeidah, country’s second largest dairy plant was hit by five Saudi missiles on Wednesday, killing at least 29 people, mostly employees, and injuring dozens of others.
“Saudi wants to destroy the economy so that the people to turn against us. That will not happen and with this tactic they will stab themselves,” said Ahmad Al Bahri, a senior Houthi politician.
In Aden, where forces loyal to President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi have been fighting the Houthis and their allies for weeks, families are besieged and thousands do not have access to drinking water, food and basic supplies, according to local officials. Families are stuck indoors because of a street battles and mortar attacks by both sides.
“Civilians are suffering the most but no one cares about them,” said Ahmed Saleh, 37, a computer programmer in Sanaa.
“Families are rushing to buy large quantities of products at supermarkets and malls. The crisis and war this time will continue longer than any of us expect.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Which products are to be taxed?
To be taxed:
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules
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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.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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