June 26, 2023

ePac Flexible Packaging Announces the Official Opening of its Plant in Accra, Ghana

Global company ready to serve brands of all sizes throughout West Africa

Austin, Texas USA, June 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ePac Flexible Packaging, an industry leader in custom flexible packaging, is pleased to announce the opening of its new Grade A 2,200 square meter production plant on the Spintex Road in Accra, Ghana. A grand opening celebration was held on June 22nd with nearly 150 local dignitaries, government officials, customers, and media in attendance.

Since its establishment in 2021, ePac West Africa, has served a number of customers across Africa, including customers from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Zanzibar, with fulfillment handled by ePac’s plants in the UK and Lyon, France. With the opening of the new plant, ePac West Africa is uniquely positioned to serve CPG brands of all sizes throughout the region with competitively priced flexible packaging and industry best turnaround times.

According to Victor Sosah, General Manager of ePac West Africa: “ePac is poised to serve the West African community with the highest quality packaging that has been proven to help small
and medium enterprises grow. With our first facility in the region located in Ghana, we can help our customers, and consumers alike, “buy-local” in support of the government initiatives to increase local food manufacturing and reduce imports”.

Mr. Sosah added: “No longer will local brands need to accept inferior packaging, or source it from overseas. With ePac’s all-digital platform we’re able to reduce lead times on packaging orders from months to 15 business days (following artwork approval), while enabling brands to order to demand and avoid costly excess inventory and obsolescence”.

According to ePac CEO Jack Knott: “the opening of the plant in Ghana represents a significant milestone in ePac’s global expansion. I am excited that we are able to provide a great packaging option which allows brands to compete for space on local supermarket shelves and introduce new products to international markets.”

About ePac:
ePac is the world’s largest networked flexible packaging provider, serving brands of all sizes across the globe. Founded in 2016, ePac began with a single plant in Madison, Wisconsin serving predominantly community-based small and medium sized brands. Today, through its proprietary technology platform – ePacONE (One Network Everywhere), ePac provides brands, large and small alike, the ability to produce any size order anywhere across its 25 facilities across the globe.

ePac offers a full complement of sustainable film options, while its print technology platform is carbon-neutral and inherently eco-friendly. Further, the company offers true order to demand capability, helping brands reduce inventory and obsolescence.

Attachments

Carl Joachim
ePac Flexible Packaging
+1 561-573-7992
cjoachim@ePacFlexibles.com

Victor Sosah
ePac West Africa
+233 501 333 162
vsosah@ePacFlexibles.com

June 26, 2023

Fund will invest in key technologies for carbon reduction, removal and compensation of emissions as well as carbon economy opportunities

Delft, Netherlands and Vancouver, Canada, June 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Chrysalix Venture Capital, an experienced and early stage industrial sustainability investor, announces the first close of its fifth fund, the Carbon Neutrality Fund. The Fund will invest in early-stage companies across the globe that are developing technologies to enable carbon neutrality for industries such as energy, mining, transport, chemicals, building materials like steel and cement, and forestry. The Fund will focus on technologies that include resource efficiency solutions, alternative fuels, materials substitution and circularity, carbon as a resource, negative emission technologies, carbon analytics and markets and will primarily invest across Canada, the US and Europe.

Carbon neutral targets are set by many of the largest global companies. To achieve those targets, strategies like portfolio management, decarbonizing existing assets, and building new green businesses need to be implemented during this decade. Implementing these strategies requires the adoption of new technologies and innovation, with many of the key technologies either in early adoption or not yet commercially available.

Investors in the Fund include leading industrial companies like Evonik, LyondellBasell, Siam Cement Group (SCG), and a North American leader in forestry, pulp and paper products.

“We are pleased to welcome several leading international investors to the Carbon Neutrality Fund,” said Fred van Beuningen, Managing Partner at Chrysalix Venture Capital. “Working closely with our Limited Partners, the Fund will connect leading companies with outstanding entrepreneurs, linking market driven problems to innovative solutions while seizing the value creation opportunity of carbon neutrality. Technologies that support carbon neutrality offer a value creation and a new business opportunity, companies with a pro active carbon strategy will create long term sources of differentiation.”

With this first close, the Fund is on its way to raising its target size of $120 million USD and is supported by Chrysalix’s expanded presence in Europe, as well as the Chrysalix ecosystem which includes many of the leading global industrial companies, top universities from Europe, North America and Asia, partnerships with climate technology accelerators and providers of non dilutive and growth capital.

About Chrysalix Venture Capital
Chrysalix is a technology focused venture capital firm that builds, mentors and connects high growth companies. With more than 20 years experience, Chrysalix has built its reputation on bringing disruptive innovation to the world’s largest industries by focusing on where technology meets science. The firm’s investments include breakthrough technologies like smart mining, fast charging electric vehicle infrastructure, carbon capture, metals and concrete circularity, and nuclear fusion. Chrysalix has one of the strongest investment teams in the industry with deep technology, corporate and entrepreneurial expertise, and is backed by more than 20 international blue chip industrial and financial investors. For more information visit: www.chrysalix.com.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities of the Chrysalix Carbon Neutrality Fund nor shall there be any sale of such securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The securities sold in the private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, state securities laws or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release contains forward looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Fred van Beuningen
Managing Parter
fbeuningen@chrysalix.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8864009″

June 26, 2023

Teso South To Get Sports Academy

The government, through the Ministry of Sports, is set to build a sports academy in the Asiriam area of Chakol South Ward, Teso South Constituency, in efforts to nurture and develop talents in the community.

Speaking at Chakol South Ward during a public participation function, Teso South MP Mary Emase revealed that they are at the initial stage and are already deliberating on purchasing a 10-acre piece of land near Asiriam Primary School for the development of a sports academy.

The proposed academy, she said, is expected to host an ultra-modern soccer and athletic pitch with changing rooms, an office complex, training halls, an indoor games arena, a gymnasium, entertainment blocks, and a sanitary block where young, talented athletes will nurture their potential.

‘The sports activities teach physical, mental, and tactical training to athletes. Sportsmen and women will get the opportunity to follow the rules and regulations of the game and obey and respect the decisions of the coach during training for easier molding of talents,’ she noted.

Emase observed that Teso South had been chosen along with the other 34 sports academies that are being constructed in the country, adding that the academy is expected to utilize sports to enhance cohesion among the local communities.

The MP reiterated that the majority of youths have wasted their talents in alcoholism and have been coaxed into violence by politicians.

‘The young people who have been in the past idling and vulnerable to rogue politicians will have a chance to exercise their talents. This is expected to promote peace and cohesion in this area,’ she said.

‘There are many young people in our society who are talented but lack the grounds to exercise their talent. The academy will be a good platform to build and nurture their talents and give them a chance to compete with other young people from outside the country,’ she said.

The establishment of this academy will be in line with the Kenya Kwanza manifesto, which targets to tap and nature talent at the village level. The Academy’s function will also include collecting, collating, storing, and disseminating tangible and intangible historical sports material to the public.

Source: Kenya News Agency

June 26, 2023

Kenya Film Corporation To Establish A Talent Hub In Nyandarua

Kenya Film Corporation will establish a hub in Nyandarua County to enable youths from the area to exploit their talents in film creativity.

KFC Chief Executive Officer Timothy Owase has urged the County government to collaborate with the Corporation to set up the hub as soon as possible.

He said the Corporation has a film funding programme and urged 50 youths from the County, who underwent a week-long training on film production, to form vibrant groups that can benefit from the funding.

Mr. Owase was speaking in Ol Kalou on Saturday when the trained youths, drawn from across Nyandarua, received their certificates.

‘My key message to all participants is to form an organized group and possibly register a company that can be supported in a very organized manner,’ Owase said.

He added that KFC has programmes geared towards supporting youths in storytelling and advised the youths to be on the lookout and apply whenever the corporation sends out calls for film funding.

Joseph Muragu, speaking on behalf of the youth, said the skills they have learned will help them exploit the contents that are abundant in Nyandarua to put the County on the film industry map.

Terming the film industry as a multibillion-shilling business, Paul Ochuki, the Assistant County Commissioner from the County Commissioner’s office, challenged the youth to exploit the filmmaking skills they learned to earn a living.

‘There is much to gain in the film industry, and some actors are earning much more money than even presidents,’ Ochuki said.

Deputy Governor Mwangi Mathara, who was the chief guest during the closing ceremony, challenged the trained youth to think of recreating the Mau Mau war film, saying Nyandarua was the epicenter of the freedom struggle in the Central Kenya region.

The training, which attracted young people from Nyandarua’s five sub-counties, is aimed at equipping the participants with basic filmmaking skills in line with Governor Moses Badilisha Kiarie’s transformative youth agenda.

Source: Kenya News Agency

June 26, 2023

PLWDS Asked To Take Advantage Of Gov’t Opportunities

People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs) have been asked to take advantage of government opportunities both at the national and county government levels, as enshrined in the constitution of Kenya.

Speaking during a training in Narok, Ahmed Maalim, the project manager of the Northern Nomadic Disabled Persons Organization (NONDO), said people with disabilities should take advantage of government opportunities by registering their self-help groups with social services, opening businesses, and registering companies so as to be awarded government tenders that were preserved for them.

‘Disabled persons should register groups and open businesses in order to apply for government tenders and be included in activities that concern them in society,’ added Maalim.

Maalim said PLWDs should raise their concerns for inclusion in income generating activities that will help sustain them in their day-to-day needs and live a dignified life.

Maalim asked people with Disabilities to create movements to amplify their voices, stressing that by uniting their voices as an organized group, they can break barriers, combat marginalization, and ensure that their perspectives and needs are heard and addressed.

Through their registration, PLWDs will be able to receive funding from donors, financial institutions, and other Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) that support the needs of disabled persons in the country.

On his part, Reuben Mpatiany, chairperson of the Narok County Albinism Association, said the forum is to train the PLWDS on the legal framework of their constitutional rights, the budgetary framework, and their inclusion in the government.

‘We appreciate the opportunity as a PLWD society in the county of Narok. I’m sure we will take advantage of the opportunities given to us by the constitution of Kenya,’ Mpatiany said.

However, Mpatiany asked the sports office to consider inviting people with Disabilities to join parasports activities such as para volleyball as a way of empowering them in society.

The county director of Social Services, Johnson Ole Kimojino, said the County integrated development plan has ensured the PWDs were included and their rights are preserved for themselves so that they can enjoy their rights.

Kimonjino noted that the county government has a kitty for people with disabilities in the county, like bursaries, and has partnered with other NGOs in order to improve their livelihoods in the county.

‘We have partnered with NGOs so that equipment such as wheelchairs and crutches, among others, will be given to the disabled and to support their educational welfare as well,’ Kimojino said.

The PWDs were trained on fighting corruption in society as well as being called upon not to hide their disabled children in houses because it’s an infringement on the rights of disabled persons in society.

Source: Kenya News Agency

June 26, 2023

Over 70 Jumbos Invade Farms In Kitui County

Over 70 elephants have caused mass destruction of crops after invading farms in Mutha location in Kitui County.

The stray elephants are believed to have crossed over from the bordering Tsavo Game Reserve.

Speaking to KNA at their farms in Mutha, the locals decried mass losses they incurred after destruction of their maturing crops and other properties.

The residents said they are living in fear of more crops destruction and even death from attacks by the wild animals.

They asked the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to drive away the elephants immediately and compensate them for the losses caused by the elephants.

‘We are tired of living in fear,’ said one resident. ‘The elephants are destroying our crops and property, the KWS should to take action immediately,’ said Martin Muthui, a local farmer who incurred massive losses of his crops.

The invasion by the elephants has also had a devastating impact on education, as education in local schools in the area have been forced to temporarily close due to the wildlife insecurity.

The Mutha location residents have expressed concern over the safety of their children since the elephants pose danger to their lives.

‘We cannot keep our children in schools when there are elephants roaming around, we are afraid of their safety,’ said Jane Syokau, a resident and a mother.

Officer in charge of KWS at the game reserve warden Jimale Rashid confirmed the presence and invasion of farms by the stray elephants, and said that KWS officers are working round the clock to drive the elephants from the area back to the game reserve.

The irate residents have given the KWS a three days ultimatum to drive the destructive and life-threatening elephants back to the game reserve.

‘We are giving the KWS three days to remove the elephants but if they do not act, then after the three days we will take matters into our own hands,’ said irate residents.

‘We are aware of the invasion of elephants in Mutha area,’ said Rashid. ‘We have dispatched a team of rangers to the area to drive the elephants back to Tsavo Game Reserve. We will also be working with the locals to ensure that the elephants do not return to the area,’ he added.

Rashid urged the locals to remain calm and cooperate with the KWS offices. He said that the KWS is committed to protecting the lives and property of the locals.

Source: Kenya News Agency