August 10, 2021

BOSS Revolution Partners with Columbus Crew Captain Jonathan Mensah

NEWARK, N.J., Aug. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT), a global provider of communications and payment services, today announced a partnership with professional soccer player Jonathan Mensah. Jonathan is a renowned defender and team captain for Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Columbus Crew. He has twice represented Ghana on its national team in the World Cup and is a beloved figure in the sport.

Through the partnership, Jonathan will support IDT’s BOSS Revolution brand — including its international money transfer, voice calling and mobile top-up services — as spokesperson and ambassador in its advertising campaigns. He will be featured across broadcast, print, and digital media, and will endorse BOSS Revolution across his digital fanbase.

Because of his personal experiences as both an immigrant to the United States from Ghana and as a long-time BOSS Revolution customer, Jonathan is ideally suited to connect with members of immigrant communities throughout the U.S. including those from Africa and those who share his love of soccer.

“I’m proud to use my voice to help spread awareness of BOSS Revolution,” Jonathan Mensah said. “Like many others, my family remains connected thanks to BOSS Revolution. My family and I trust BOSS Revolution’s voice calling, money transfer and mobile-top up services to help us stay close across borders and oceans, no matter where we are.”

Jonathan’s path to the Columbus Crew highlights the opportunities the United States offers immigrants from all over the globe. Jonathan grew up in Accra, Ghana and learned to play soccer on sand fields while his father worked in the mines. He dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player and played for teams all around the world before joining the Columbus Crew in 2017.

“We are proud to welcome Jonathan to the BOSS Revolution family. His selection as the Crew’s captain and his charitable work helping underprivileged youth in his native Ghana speak to his outstanding character and concern for others,” said Shmuel Jonas, CEO of IDT. “Jonathan’s personal story is uniquely powerful, but it has much in common with other immigrants to the U.S. including their dedication, hard work and desire to attain a better life here while staying close to family and friends back home.”

“Our flagship BOSS Revolution offerings primarily serve immigrant communities,” Mr. Jonas added. “Jonathan’s personal experience using BOSS Revolution to stay in touch with his family enables him to speak from the heart about the value of our services to immigrant families.”

About IDT Corporation:

IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT) is a global provider of fintech, cloud communications and traditional communications services. We make it easier for families to connect, support and share across international borders. We also enable businesses to transact and communicate with their customers with enhanced intelligence and insight.

Our BOSS Revolution branded money transfer, mobile top-up and international calling services make sending money and speaking with friends and family around the world convenient and reliable. National Retail Solutions’ (NRS) point-of-sale retail network enables independent retailers to operate and process transactions more effectively while providing advertisers and consumer marketers with unprecedented reach into underserved consumer markets. net2phone’s unified communications as a service solution provides businesses with intelligently integrated cloud communications and collaboration solutions across channels and devices. Our IDT Carrier Services and IDT Express wholesale offerings enable communications companies to provision and manage international voice and SMS services.

Contact:
Bill Ulrey
IDT Investor Relations
Phone: (973) 438-3838
E-mail: invest@idt.net

August 10, 2021

Globeleq et Absa refinancent avec succès des centrales d’énergies renouvelables sud-africaines

LONDRES et LE CAP, Afrique du Sud, 10 août 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Globeleq, l’un des principaux producteurs indépendants d’électricité en Afrique, et Absa Bank, groupe financier de premier plan dans le programme de développement des énergies renouvelables en Afrique du Sud, viennent de boucler le refinancement de la dette senior de trois des centrales d’énergies renouvelables de Globeleq. L’objectif du refinancement est d’améliorer la structure du capital des projets, ce qui permet de libérer de la valeur pour les actionnaires et de réduire le tarif de vente pour la société nationale d’électricité et donc pour les consommateurs sud-africains.

Les réductions tarifaires permettront à la société nationale d’électricité d’économiser plus d’un milliard de ZAR sur les trois actifs au cours des 12 années restantes des contrats d’achat d’électricité. Absa Bank a agi en tant qu’arrangeur principal mandaté et unique souscripteur du prêt pour un montant d’environ 5,2 milliards de ZAR.

Cette transaction est le deuxième refinancement d’actifs renouvelables dans le cadre du protocole de refinancement de l’Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) du Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). Globeleq espère refinancer à terme l’ensemble du portefeuille d’actifs que la société possède en Afrique du Sud.

Globeleq s’est engagé de manière proactive depuis juin 2020, après que l’IPPO a demandé aux propriétaires des projets renouvelables sud-africains lauréats des appels d’offres 1-3.5 d’envisager de participer à un programme de refinancement volontaire, et a dirigé le processus de refinancement au nom de tous ses actionnaires dans la centrale éolienne de 138 MW de Jeffreys Bay, et dans les centrales solaires photovoltaïques de 50 MW chacune de De Aar Solar et Droogfontein Solar.

Mike Scholey, le PDG de Globeleq, a déclaré : « Globeleq considère que cette transaction permet de stimuler le marché secondaire, lequel favorisera à son tour de nouvelles opportunités, des emplois, et contribuera au développement économique de l’Afrique du Sud. Nous espérons que d’autres IPP chercheront à faire de même et à réduire le coût de leur électricité pour Eskom. »

Outre la réduction des prix de gros de l’électricité, le refinancement permettra de débloquer des fonds pour les actionnaires, ce qui encouragera le réinvestissement dans le secteur et accélérera les distributions de fonds propres aux trois actionnaires du fonds communautaire, permettant ainsi des dépenses sur des projets durables à fort impact.

Johan Koorts, directeur du financement des ressources et des projets d’Absa, a déclaré : « La banque Absa est l’un des principaux acteurs du programme sud-africain d’énergies renouvelables depuis sa création et a organisé à ce jour le financement d’environ 3 GW de projets à travers différents appels d’offre. Cette transaction montre clairement l’engagement continu d’Absa en faveur du financement des énergies propres et de l’accélération des investissements ayant un impact durable sur les communautés que nous servons. »

Bernard Magoro, chef du bureau IPPO, a déclaré : « Nous tenons à remercier toutes les parties pour l’engagement dont elles ont fait preuve et pour la manière constructive dont elles ont abordé ce refinancement. Nous espérons que la réussite de cette opération permettra à d’autres producteurs indépendants d’avoir confiance dans le processus et les incitera à participer à cette initiative. L’IPPO est fière de participer à cette réalisation. »

À propos de Globeleq
Globeleq est un développeur, promoteur et gestionnaire leader de la production d’électricité en Afrique. La société dispose d’une capacité de production d’électricité de près de 1 500 MW, répartie sur 28 projets au Cameroun, en Côte d’Ivoire, au Kenya, au Nigeria, en Afrique du Sud et en Tanzanie. Avec 305 MW supplémentaires en cours de construction au Kenya (52MWp solaire) et en Côte d’Ivoire (253MW), et 2 000 MW de projets en cours de développement, Globeleq est engagé à long terme dans le secteur de l’électricité en Afrique. www.globeleq.com

À propos de Absa Group Limited
Absa Group Limited (« Groupe Absa ») est coté à la bourse de Johannesburg et est l’un des plus grands groupes de services financiers diversifiés d’Afrique.

Le Groupe Absa offre un ensemble intégré de produits et de services dans les domaines suivants : services bancaires aux particuliers et aux entreprises, services bancaires aux entreprises et d’investissement, gestion de patrimoine et d’investissement et assurance.

Absa est présent dans 14 pays. Le groupe détient des participations majoritaires dans des banques au Botswana, au Ghana, au Kenya, à Maurice, au Mozambique, aux Seychelles, en Afrique du Sud, en Tanzanie (Absa Bank Tanzania et National Bank of Commerce), en Ouganda et en Zambie. Il exerce également des activités d’assurance au Botswana, au Kenya, au Mozambique, en Afrique du Sud et en Zambie. Absa possède également des bureaux de représentation en Namibie et au Nigeria, ainsi que des entités de valeurs mobilières au Royaume-Uni et aux États-Unis.

Pour de plus amples informations sur le Groupe Absa Limited, veuillez consulter le site suivant www.absa.africa

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/612609/GLobeleq_Logo.jpg

August 10, 2021

Globeleq And Absa Successfully Refinances South African Renewable Plants

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.”

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/612609/GLobeleq_Logo.jpg

August 10, 2021

PolkaFoundry to List on AscendEX

Singapore, Aug. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AscendEX, a global cryptocurrency financial platform with a comprehensive product suite, is excited to announce the listing of PolkaFoundry token (PKF) under the pair USDT/PKF on Aug 10 at 1 p.m. UTC.

PolkaFoundry is a platform for building borderless and frictionless DeFi and NFT dapps on Polkadot. PolkaFoundry aims to be the most convenient platform for developers to build DeFi and NFT dapps, providing a platform for making dapps easily accessible to mainstream end-users. PolkaFoundry will achieve this by utilizing Polkadot’s interoperability and scalability and integrating various DeFi-friendly services onto the platform. In addition, PolkaFoundry focuses heavily on ensuring the UX and features of their dApps are simple to use, promoting mainstream adoption.

The native token PKF has several utilities, including payment for services and transaction fees in the PolkaFoundry ecosystem and payments for PolkaFoundry’s partners’ services. In addition, PKF is used for staking and governance so users can earn shares of block rewards and participate in the on-chain governance process to earn additional rewards for voting on proposals.

PolkaFundry believes that the most significant barrier to blockchain adoption is the complexity of the UX on most platforms and dApps. The average person has difficulty engaging with crypto projects because many projects did not design their UX’s for mainstream users. Concepts like wallets, private keys, coins, exchanges, etc. require education and can confuse new users leaving many dApps with a small active user base. Polkafoundry has spent years researching dapp UX’s and has used their research to develop the UX built into PolkaFoundry to enable novice users and professionals to access and use the platform easily.

Polkadot promises a fast-growing ecosystem that offers security, scalability, and interoperability, so PolkaFoundry decided to build its platform on it. To enable dapps to port from Ethereum, PolkaFoundry is EMV-compatible. PolkaFoundry’s foundational goal is to bring the benefits of blockchain to the masses by making its products and services accessible to people outside the crypto community.

About AscendEX

AscendEX (formerly BitMax) is a global cryptocurrency financial platform with a comprehensive product suite including spot, margin, and futures trading, wallet services, and staking support for over 150 blockchain projects such as bitcoin, ether, and ripple. Launched in 2018, AscendEX services over 1 million retail and institutional clients globally with a highly liquid trading platform and secure custody solutions.

AscendEX has emerged as a leading platform by ROI on its “initial exchange offerings” by supporting some of the industry’s most innovative projects from the DeFi ecosystem such as Thorchain, xDai Stake, and Serum. AscendEX users receive exclusive access to token airdrops and the ability to purchase tokens at the earliest possible stage. To learn more about how AscendEX is leveraging best practices from both Wall Street and the cryptocurrency ecosystem to bring the best altcoins to its users, please visit www.AscendEX.com.

For more information and updates, please visit:

Website: https://ascendex.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AscendEX_Global

Telegram: https://t.me/AscendEXEnglish

Medium: https://medium.com/ascendex

About Polkafoundry

For more information and updates, please visit:

Website: https://polkafoundry.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PolkaFoundry

Telegram: https://t.me/PolkaFoundry

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PKF Listing0809-en_PC-en

Marketing Department
AscendEX
marketing@ascendex.com

August 10, 2021

Kinesio® Announces the Release of Kinesio® Medical Taping for the Mature Adult

Albuquerque, New Mexico, Aug. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kinesio Tape is announcing a new focus on Medical Taping for the Mature Adult, though Kinesio and Dr. Kenzo Kase® have been treating this population for more than 40 years.

In his new book, Dr. Kase provides easily relatable scenarios that affect the mature adult community on a daily basis. He draws upon his own experiences in an insightful and interesting way that allows readers to see a glimpse into the mind of the inventor. Kinesio Medical Taping (KMT) techniques were developed in a clinical environment and aim to improve patient outcomes in palliative care while offering visual aides to guide you every step of the way.

This book outlines ways to help provide care for mature adult patients while using a specifically formulated tape that is designed to be gentle but still effective in treating common conditions that the mature adult often faces such as osteoarthritis and diabetic neuropathy. Kinesio Tex Light Touch+ is the only tape of its kind on the market that is specifically formulated to be gentler on the skin while achieving phenomenal results. Dr. Kase’s expertise and over 40 years of valuable experience combined with this specially formulated line of tape is the perfect recipe for maximum impact.

Kinesio Tape is designed and manufactured in the USA, and proudly serves more than 100 countries globally. With the introduction of Kinesio Medical Taping for the Mature Adult, Dr. Kase’s vision to Tape with Wisdom has taken yet another form. With Dr. Kase’s expertise and his many full years of experience traveling the globe and teaching the method, he has already impacted the lives of thousands of people. Kinesio Medical Taping for the Mature Adult will only add to that impact and encourage the mature adult to continue living a healthy, happy, and active lifestyle.

About Kinesio Holding Corporation: Kinesio Holding Corporation is a U.S. based manufacturer of unique therapeutic tapes that are sold all over the world. The Kinesio Taping® Method is designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process while allowing support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body’s range of motion.

Attachment

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Karli Jenkins
Kinesio Holding Corporation
505-797-7818
kjenkins@kinesiotaping.com

August 10, 2021

Malawi’s Corruption Monitor Arrests Cabinet Minister, Two Other Officials over Fuel Deals

BLANTRYE, MALAWI – Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested the energy minister and two other officials for alleged corruption involving a state oil contract. Political analysts said the arrests show Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera’s anti-corruption drive is targeting more than just the former ruling party.

Malawi Energy Minister Newton Kambala has been arrested along with presidential adviser Chris Chaima Banda, and Enock Chihana, a partner in the governing Tonse Alliance.

Martha Chizuma is the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, or ACB. She told a televised press conference the arrests Monday stem from investigations into complaints from the National Oil Company of Malawi, or NOCMA, about interference in awarding of contracts to fuel suppliers.

“The other part of this investigation was alleged serious political interference and some corrupt practices in the procurement process,” Chizuma said. “And there is a recommendation that there must be prosecution of those that were allegedly involved.”

The investigation found that Energy Minister Kambala attempted to influence NOCMA to award contracts for 2020-2021 fuel supplies to three potential oil suppliers.

The probe also determined that Chihana and Banda aided and abetted Kambala when he attempted to influence the award of the contract to supply 40,000 tons of fuel to one supplier.

Political analysts said the arrests, the first of the president’s allies, show Chakwera’s anti-corruption drive is targeting not only members of the former ruling party.

Sheriff Kaisi is a lecturer of political science at Blantyre International University.

“Now he has started living by his word,” Kaisi said. “Because historically and traditionally in Malawi, it’s rare that you see the government or any government institution which is enforcing governance issues for example to arrest someone holding ministerial position.”

Chakwera previously had been accused of targeting only officials of opposing parties in the anti-corruption campaign when he took power in June of last year.

However, Kaisi says the challenge now is delays in prosecutions.

“We need to quickly point out that at the Anti-Corruption Bureau there are quite a lot of cases,” Kaisi said. “Some have taken 20 years and they have not yet concluded. So, we are asking the government through anti-Corruption Bureau that the president has started living by his words, what is remaining now is to move very fast so that due process of the law should go normally.”

The ACB said the three suspects will appear in court soon after it finishes interrogating them.

Its spokesperson, Egrita Ndala, told state broadcaster Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Tuesday that charges would include abuse of public office, and aiding and abetting crime.

Source: Voice of America