Category: MENA

Design Inspired by the National Flag of Benin, Hachimura’s Ancestral Home

TOKYO, Aug. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Casio Computer Co., Ltd. announced today the release of the GM-110RH, a new addition to the G-SHOCK brand of shock-resistant watches. The GM-110RH is the second signature model designed in collaboration with NBA pro Rui Hachimura.

Hachimura is the first Japanese national ever to be taken in the first round of the NBA draft (2019). This season, Hachimura continues to be a centerpiece of his team, and his impact is expected to grow in the future. Casio signed a global partnership agreement with Hachimura in November 2019 to support him in tackling the tough challenges that lie ahead.

The new GM-110RH is a signature model designed in collaboration with Hachimura, who has been a G-SHOCK fan since he was in school. The GM-110RH is based on the GM-110, which features a metal bezel and a stylish design. The watch face and band loop on the GM-110RH feature yellow, red, and green accents inspired by the colors of the national flag of Benin, Hachimura’s ancestral home. The yellow hour hand, red minute hand, green inset dial, and Y-shaped bridge are laid out for optimum visibility.

The new watch not only comes with a basic black urethane band, but also a urethane band with a West African kente-cloth motif inspired by the traditional clothing of the region — and it is easy to switch between them. Hachimura’s signature “Black Samurai” logo is engraved on the back plate, band loop and special packaging. The symbol (hachi in Japanese, meaning “eight”) represents both his name and jersey number.

Hachimura had this to say about the new model: “The watch draws inspiration from my roots in Benin and Africa, which are very important to me. The band design and watch face evoke elements of Beninese culture and I am delighted at how Casio brought my ideas to life.”

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The cooperation with HWK Erfurt Vocational Training Center (HWK) and Erfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce will pave the way in promoting the high-quality development of vocational education in China

XUZHOU, China, Aug. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — XCMG Technician College, the vocational technical school of leading construction machinery manufacturer XCMG (000425.SZ), is partnering with HWK Erfurt Vocational Training Center (HWK) and Erfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Germany to launch the “Blue Sea Elite” young technician training program (the “Program”), which will provide international training and perspective to close to 200 qualified technicians and mechanics for XCMG annually.

“In accordance with Germany’s standards in construction machinery technician education, the Program will establish an integrated talent training system to include vocational training certification, curriculum convergence, teaching model, faculty training and evaluation/assessment to promote the continuous improvement of talent cultivation to create a reserve of talents for XCMG’s main global development strategy,” said Feng Yuehong, director of XCMG Technician College.

Using the German dual-system vocational education system as a benchmark, XCMG Technician College has been implementing integrated course and teaching reform in areas of curriculum, scenario, faculty, teaching material, time and evaluation, with the aim of achieving the integration of school with enterprise as well as production with education. The Program aims to open a new chapter for XCMG Technician College in training highly skilled, innovative and interdisciplinary industrial mechanics with an international perspective.

Following the technological trend of intelligent construction, XCMG has begun to focus on cultivating skilled technical talents with a background in internet applications since the beginning of 2021 and awarded China’s first batch of 1+X grade certificates of industrial internet industry.

The 1+X certificate includes one academic certificate and multiple vocational skill certificates, involving industrial data collection equipment deployment and connection, industrial site data collection and cloud storage, cloud platform algorithm modeling applications, industrial data edge computing applications, industrial app development and release and more.

“‘Theory + practice’ teaching model integrates vocational skill training into teaching resources with the support of precise training facilities, it’s our goal to take a lead role across the industry,” said Feng.

For more information, please visit: http://en.xcmg.com/en-ap/.

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DUBAI, UAE, Aug. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Telecom Review finds that Chinese telecom carriers are making significant progress in constructing low-band 5G networks, and much of the attention is drawn to the 700MHz frequency which is part of the wider ultra-high frequency (UHF) band.

At the beginning of 2021, China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network (CBN) had announced a 5G strategic cooperation agreement to construct and share a 700 MHz 5G network. As a combined effort, they have purchased 480,400 700 MHz 5G base stations this year. According to Guang Yang at Strategy Analytics, this increase of base stations in 700 MHz will be a significant boost to the 5G infrastructure market and also a catalyst for the 5G development in China, since most of the 5G base stations in China so far are deployed in the 2.6 GHz or 3.5 GHz band.

China Telecom and China Unicom have also jointly launched the centralized procurement of 242,000 5G base stations and have recently released the announcement on public bidding involving the 2.1 GHz wireless primary device needed in the 5G SA construction project in 2021.

Telecom Review reports the increased 5G activities in 700 MHz band will drive 5G investment in China and benefit domestic equipment vendors like Huawei. In China Mobile and CBN bidding, Huawei, as the major infrastructure vendor in China’s 5G market, has won around 60% of the total share. It is expected that Huawei will continue to be the biggest winner in the Chinese market in 2021 and the main vendor beneficiary of 5G CAPEX spending in China.

With the strength of wider coverage and low propagation loss, Telecom Review expects the low band 5G frequencies will enable a better 5G network experience and help companies like Huawei to demonstrate the true value of 5G, which will keep boosting the confidence of clients in its business continuity under the current circumstances.

About Telecom Review

Telecom Review was founded in 2005 and is today the leading global ICT media platform. With its different editions that cover all the industry’s updates in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Africa and North America, Telecom Review has gained a stellar reputation for guaranteeing quality content, offering reliable information and addressing the most trending topics. Telecom Review has always been a pioneer in the ICT media industry by launching e-newsletters, digital flipping magazines and most recently, organizing virtual panels and webinars.

LONDON and CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Aug. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Globeleq, the leading independent power company in Africa, and Absa Bank, a leading financier in the renewable energy programme in South Africa, have completed the senior debt refinancing of three of Globeleq’s renewable power plants. The purpose of the refinancing is to enhance the projects’ capital structures, allowing for the release of value to shareholders and the reduction of the tariff to the national utility, and ultimately consumers in South Africa.

The tariff reductions will save the national utility more than ZAR 1 billion across the three assets over the remaining 12-year term of the power purchase agreements.  Absa Bank acted as the mandated lead arranger and sole underwriter of the c. ZAR 5.2 billion debt financing package.

This transaction will be the second refinancing of renewable assets under the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s (DMRE) Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) Refinancing Protocol.  Globeleq hopes to eventually refinance the entire portfolio of assets it owns in South Africa.

Globeleq proactively engaged in June 2020 after the IPPO requested owners of the South African renewable Round 1-3.5 projects to consider participating in a voluntary refinancing programme, and led the refinancing process on behalf of all its shareholders in the 138 MW Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm, 50 MW De Aar Solar and 50 MW Droogfontein Solar plants.

Mike Scholey, Globeleq CEO said: “Globeleq sees this transaction as enabling future secondary market debt, which in turn will stimulate new opportunities, jobs and contribute to the economic development of South Africa. We hope that other IPPs will look to do the same and reduce the cost of their power to Eskom.”

Apart from reducing wholesale electricity prices, the refinancing will unlock funds for the shareholders which, in turn, will encourage re-investment in the sector as well as accelerate equity distributions to the three community trust shareholders, enabling spend on high impact sustainable ventures.

Absa’s Johan Koorts, Resource & Project Finance Principal said: “Absa Bank has been a major supporter of the South African renewable energy programme since its inception and has to date arranged financing for c. 3 gigawatts of projects across various bid windows. This transaction strongly demonstrates Absa’s ongoing commitment to the financing of clean energy and the acceleration of investments that make a sustainable impact on the communities we serve.”

Bernard Magoro, Head of the IPP Office said: “We wish to thank all parties for the commitment shown and the constructive way in which they approached this refinancing and hope that the successful conclusion thereof will lead to more IPPs taking comfort from the process and coming to the fore to participate in this initiative. The IPPO is proud to be part of this achievement.”

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