The Nation Newspaper

Tag: German

  • German coach takes over Nigeria table tennis

    German coach takes over Nigeria table tennis

    Former German national coach, Martin Adomeit will take charge of the Nigeria table tennis team to the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville.

    The coach, who will act as the technical adviser, was hired through the financial support of the National Sports Commission (NSC).

    The German tactician guided Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri to the quarterfinal stage of the 2014 ITTF World Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany and he is expected to arrive Nigeria this week to start working with the team in readiness for the games.

    From 1978 to 1980 Martin Adomeit worked at youth level of clubs with Germany-based Soest TV and TuS Ampen. In 1981 he joined the TuS Jahn Soest and was part of the technical crew of the team’s female team in the Bundesliga League and in 1984, he took over as coach of the women’s team of the club. He also served from 1988 to 1997 as honourary coach of the West German Table Tennis Association (WTTA).

    In 1996, he was appointed as an assistant coach by the German Table Tennis Association DTTB and in 1997 he ended all previous activities at club levels and took over the post of national coach of the German female team.

    Under his tutelage, the German women’s team won three consecutive times the European League as well as winner of the 1998 and 1999 European Ladies Team Championship while in 2000, the team won silver.

    For this feat, the Association of German Table Tennis Coaches named Adomeit as the coach of the year in 1999.

    After the poor outing of the German team at the 2000 ITTF World Cup, Adomeit stepped down and was replaced by Richard Prause as women’s coach. Adomeit now assumed responsibility for the female junior team.

    From August 2004 to April 2007, Adomeit worked as coach and sporting director in Luxembourg while he also handled the Belgium national team from 2008 to 2010.

    From 2010, he has been working as Independent coach in camps for players and coaches for the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) and ITTF, German Organising Committee (OC), coach education in Germany as well as personal coach to top players across the globe.

    The 51-year-old Dortmund-born tactician is a licensed coach, who studied at the German Sport University in Cologne.

  • Greece debt crisis: German MPs vote ‘yes’ to bailout talks

    Greece debt crisis: German MPs vote ‘yes’ to bailout talks

    The German parliament has voted in favour of starting negotiations on Greece’s €86bn (£60bn) bailout deal.

    The motion passed with a clear majority, with 439 MPs in favour, 119 votes against and 40 abstentions.

    Prior to the vote, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of “predictable chaos” if the Bundestag did not back the plan.

    The Greek parliament has already voted in favour of the hard-hitting austerity measures required by the eurozone for a third bailout deal.

    On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised the level of emergency funding available. This has paved the way for Greek banks, which shut nearly three weeks ago, to reopen on Monday.

    Greek banks have only been allowed to open briefly to give pensioners access to their cash

    But credit controls limiting cash withdrawals to €60 a day will only be eased gradually, officials say.

    Separately on Friday, the European Council approved a €7bn bridging loan for Greece from an EU-wide emergency fund. The loan was approved in principle by eurozone ministers on Thursday, but required consultation with non-euro states.

    It means Greece will now be able to repay debts to two of its creditors, the ECB and International Monetary Fund (IMF), due on Monday.

    The German parliament has voted in favour of the proposal. But the mood is ugly. Forty-eight of Mrs Merkel’s conservative MPs had indicated in advance that they would defy her. Others went along with the party line but grudgingly; many here struggle to justify a third bailout to taxpayers in their constituencies.

    This morning a poll revealed 49% of Germans don’t want to enter talks over the deal.

    Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble can expect a tough time too; his notoriously hawkish stance has upset some MPs who worry that Germany’s reputation has been damaged as a result.

    Interestingly, Mr Schaeuble used an interview on the eve of the debate to raise the prospect again of a temporary Greek exit from the eurozone.

    Chancellor Merkel told MPs ahead of Friday’s vote that the deal was hard for all sides, but said it was the “last” attempt to resolve the crisis.

    Media caption The BBC spoke to some Germans who said Greece needed EU support

    “We would be grossly negligent, indeed acting irresponsibly if we did not at least try this path,” she said.

    According to Reuters, 60 members – almost a fifth – of Mrs Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrat party voted against the motion.

    Austria’s parliament voted in favour of negotiations earlier on Friday, before the outcome of the German vote was announced.

    Germany and Austria are among several eurozone states requiring parliamentary approval to go ahead with bailout talks. France and Finland have already backed the negotiations.

    Meanwhile, there have been fresh calls for Greek debt relief measures from International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde – echoing a call from Greek PM Alexis Tsipras.

    Ms Lagarde told France’s Europe 1 the IMF would participate in a “complete” Greek package that includes debt restructuring, as well as an “in-depth reform” of the Greek economy.

    Media caption Tanya Beckett spoke to tea shop owner Sakis Papatheodorou who is struggling to pay his suppliers

    Greece has debts of €320bn and is seeking its third international bailout. Last month it became the first developed country to fail to make a repayment on a loan from the IMF.

    The bank closures have been one of the most visible signs of the crisis.

    From Monday, a weekly limit on withdrawals may replace a daily cap, Greek Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas suggested.

    “If someone doesn’t want to take €60 on Monday and wants to take it on Tuesday, for instance, they can withdraw €120, or €180 on Wednesday,” he told Greek ERT television.

    The announcements from the ECB and the Eurogroup came after Greek MPs passed tough reforms on taxes, pensions and labour rules as part of the new bailout deal.

    A rise in value added tax (VAT) from 13% to 23% will kick in on Monday, affecting food and drink in restaurants, taxi fares, selected supermarket items, public transport and plane and ferry tickets.

    Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced opposition to the deal from MPs within his left Syriza party. He is widely expected to announce a cabinet reshuffle on Friday.

  • United Capital, Lion’s Head to manage German’s African bond fund

    United Capital Plc, an investment banking group quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), and Lion’s Head,  been appointed as the fund managers for the Africa Local Currency Bond Fund (ALCB Fund).

    ALCB Fund was established by KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development,  KfW has so far invested $32 million for the initial capitalization of the Fund, out of which $18.4 million has been invested in seven non-sovereign local currency bond issuances.

    As fund managers, United Capital and Lion’s Head will be expected to implement an institutional upgrade and grow the Fund to a size beyond $100 million in the medium term.

    The ALCB Fund’s mission is to support local African banks, financial institutions, agribusiness, and renewable energy companies to issue bonds and similar instruments in local currency. The Fund aims to improve and diversify access to long term funding in domestic capital markets for the benefit of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)

    United Capital will be represented by its asset management arm, United capital Asset Management. United Capital, one of Africa’s leading investment banks, has extensive experience in high profile financial executions. In 2014 the company executed the largest corporate bond issue in the Nigerian market, which was simultaneously listed on both the NSE and the Financial Market Dealers Quotation (FMDQ) OTC platform. Other pioneering achievements recorded by United Capital include, completion of the first mortgage securitization for a mortgage backed bond in 2007; the first Tier 2 subordinated debt issuance through the bond market; and the largest corporate bond issuance in West Africa in 2010.

    Lion’s Head, a merchant bank based in London and Nairobi brings capital markets expertise to development finance initiatives for frontier markets. Lion’s Head advises across a broad range of capital markets and corporate finance initiatives across Africa, working with both the public and the private sector.

    Group chief executive officer, Oluwatoyin Sanni, said the selection further validates the company’s capability and service proficiency as a leading investment banking group.

    “It is an honour to be selected as Fund Managers alongside Lion’s Head in the management of the ALCB Fund,” Sanni said.

    Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Investment Banking at United Capital, Wale Shonibare added said the company would bring its African market expertise to bear in providing the necessary tailored solutions to significantly grow the Fund, and to meet KfW’s development objectives.

    Chairman, Lion’s Head, Bim Hundal, said the company was excited to add the ALCB Fund to its portfolio of asset management.

    A member of the board of directors of the ALCB Fund, Karl von Klitzing, said the fund managers would help to consolidate the growth of the fund.

    “Having proven the concept of an African non-sovereign local currency bond fund by sourcing and implementing the first investments and managing the fund by ourselves, we are very happy to now hand over a high impact and good credit quality portfolio to experienced fund managers, to bring the fund to a truly sizable scale,” Karl von Klitzing said.

  • German, English clubs chase Egwuekwe

    German, English clubs chase Egwuekwe

    Nigeria international defender, Azubuike Egwuekwe has claimed he is receiving “a lot of attention from top clubs” in Germany and England.

    Egwuekwe was on the verge of a move to Israeli club, Hapoel Tel Aviv, but disagreements over remuneration saw him retrace his steps to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) with Warri Wolves.

    The big defender has now exclusively told supersport.com that he may just be marking time in the Nigerian top flight.

    “Right now, there is a lot of attention from top clubs in Europe for my services.

    “I will not want to reveal the identities of these clubs but I can tell you these clubs are in England and Germany,” he said.

    He then revealed that if he had to make a choice between the two countries, he will prefer to play in Germany rather than England.

    “If I could choose, I would prefer to play in Germany and not England.

    “The English Premier League is exciting but I think the best football in the world is currently played in the German Bundesliga.

    “I believe I can be the best and to reach my potentials, I want to be playing with and against the best footballers in the world on a regular basis,” he said.

  • Nigeria gets German bank’s $200m renewable energy cash

    Nigeria gets German bank’s $200m renewable energy cash

    The  leader of German delegation, Renate Von Bodden, has said the German Development Bank, KFW, has voted $200 million  in support of Green Credit Line to Nigeria.

    Speaking at a Bi-National Commission’s meeting on energy in Abuja, she said the facility is meant to act as a support base for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), specifically for the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

    She also said another facility worth five million Euros has been set aside for technical assistance through the KFW, adding that the German agency has the required experience that would be useful to Nigerians in developing their capacities in renewable energy projects.

    She expressed satisfaction with the commitment so far exhibited by Nigerian officials, just as she said the Germans have been working with the country on a number of energy related projects. “Nigeria is on track with its vision of providing more of its nationals with electricity,” she said.

    Bodden promised that Germany will continue to support the various energy related initiatives, stressing, that as far as her country is concerned, it is only issues pertaining to Polio Eradication Programme that is sharing equal attention with the energy sector.

    Earlier, the Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, represented by the Permanent Secretary (Power), Amb. Godknows Igali said “the co-operation between Nigeria and Germany is a good example of how we can mutually work together for the benefit of our people.”

    He praised the Germans for the various projects undertaken in Nigeria, as well as their support for the Azura project which has reached advanced stage for fund draw down.

    Also, he said after the last Bi-national meeting in Berlin, the Germans have approved the one megawatt (Mw) renewable electricity project for the University of Ibadan.  This he said, will also create opportunities for research. He said Nigerians are tired of the nuisance created by diesel-run generators.

    The success of this project, he said, will be a template upon which same will be replicated in universities across the six geo-political zones of the country.

    Prof Nebo also commended the Germans for their intervention in rural development programmes through the provision and access to power for farmers in the rural areas to undertake irrigation activities.

    On gas flaring, he assured the Germans that a comprehensive Gas Master Plan will soon address the concerns of all, adding that Nigeria will appreciate if the Germans  key-in into the nation’s gas plan.

  • German business confidence falls

    German business confidence has fallen to its lowest level in almost two years, a survey suggests, raising concerns about the strength of Europe’s largest economy.

    The Ifo think tank’s closely-watched Business Climate Index fell to 103.2 in October, down from 104.7 in the previous month.

    “The outlook for the German economy deteriorated once again,” Ifo said.

    The country’s economy contracted by 0.2 per cent between April and June this year.

    There are growing concerns about Germany’s ability to bounce back in the second half of the year.

    Earlier this month, the government sharply cut its growth forecast for this year and next, following weak export and industrial output figures.

    “Things have not gone well for German industry and there are no bright spots for industry,” said Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe.

    Following the latest Ifo survey, which showed confidence at its lowest point since December 2012, analysts said the recent slew of weak data was compounding fears about wider issues outside of Germany.

    “We’re in a downward spiral in terms of mood,” said Andreas Scheuerle, an economist at Dekabank.

    “The original mood killers – geopolitics, eurozone weakness, German economic policy and deflation concerns – have led to big downward revisions of forecasts and the weaker economic expectations are now weighing on sentiment.”

  • German spies want more money

    German spies want more money

    THE discovery of US spies in Germany’s intelligence service and Defence Ministry has sparked outrage. Now German spies are calling for a boost in funds and staff directed toward counterintelligence.

    When it comes to cases of espionage on German soil, officials in the secret service and the politicians responsible for overseeing them automatically start using words like “counterintelligence” and “protection.”

    “Effective protection against attacks on our communication, as well as effective counterintelligence, are essential for our strong democracy,” said German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere in a statement responding to recent revelations of alleged spying in Germany.

    Within a matter of days, an employee in Germany’s Defence Ministry and an official from the foreign intelligence body, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), were unmasked as having provided information to US spies. Then the German government demanded the top CIA official in the US embassy in Germany leave the country.

    Bernd Schmidbauer, who worked as a federal intelligence service coordinator between 1991 and 1998, also used the word “counterintelligence” frequently.

    “Counterintelligence, counterintelligence, and more counterintelligence. Only then can you be strong,” said Schmidbauer in an interview with DW. But such activities require money and well-trained staff, the 75-year-old added.

    “Only then would it mean that not everyone is free to mess around in our backyard,” he said. “It’s not about friends or foes, it is only a matter of national interests.”

  • German Consul assures on massive investment in Nigeria

    German Consul assures on massive investment in Nigeria

    NIGERIA stands to benefit from the massive investments from German companies and counterparts from the European Union, Mr. Michael Derus, German Consul-General, has said.

    Derus gave this indication at the flag off of the German Dual Vocational Training Partnership with Nigeria (DVT-PWN) in Lagos, last Thursday.

    The DVT-PWN, he said, will give incentives not only to German companies but also to European and other companies coming from abroad to set their feet on Nigerian soil for investments, adding: “The global success is taking place not only in Nigeria, but also in the USA. It is a programme with the presentation of the state of the earth training. It’s important for not only individual success but also for sustainable development and success of groups of companies.”

    Speaking further shortly after the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria and the Industrial Training Fund/ Industrial Skill Training Centre(ITF/ISTC), Ikeja, he was of the view that though it borders on bilateral relationship programme with Nigeria, it is, however, driven with deliberate and direct initiatives geared towards achieving professional skills, adding that ” companies with interest in manufacturing and production in the country will find it interesting.”

    Expressing confidence on the manpower for the training, he said, “I have a labour force here that is well trained and have up-to- date -knowledge about doing the work.”

    While responding to questions on capability of the training in curbing unemployment in Nigeria, he was of the view that, “that might definitely be a contribution on long term effect; one programme of this kind may not make obvious safety in employment situation in the country, but of course it is going to make contribution to that purpose.”

    Speaking in the same vein, the DVT-PWN Coordinator, Kehinde Stephen Awoyele, an engineer, said, curbing unemployment was one of the objectives of the training.

  • Coscharis Motors partners German firm

    Coscharis Motors and a German car rental firm, SIXT, have announced a partnership aimed at improving tourism and the logistic industries in Nigeria through a car rental, vehicle lease and haulage business.

    SIXT, founded in 1912 in Munich, Germany, is one of the first car rental and mobility service providers in the world. Today SIXT is present in over 120 countries in all continents.

    According to Coscharis Group Managing Director Josiah Samuel, the company has the vision of making SIXT the number one car rental company in Nigeria with a touch of difference in a few years to come.

    He said SIXT Nigeria will not only provide service to its clients but also see to the growth of the clients business.

    “As SIXT Nigeria drives through this road of success, we will anchor our strength on the unbeatable support and friendships of SIXT headquarter staff,” he said.

    SIXT Head of Franchise Detlef Krehahn said: “We are pleased to have acquired such an experienced franchise partner in Nigeria. Business travellers in particular will profit from the company’s high standards of quality and service as they increasingly visit this country, which has strong potential for economic growth.”

    Coscharis chairman Dr Cosmas Maduka said the objective of the partnership is to make Coscharis the leading provider of mobility service and rental cars in the expanding markets of Nigeria and West Africa.

    “As a vertically integrated automobile services group, with services spanning premium car distribution, auto-component sales, emerging interests in auto-assembly among others, Coscharis Group seeks to broaden the spectrum and deepen the value derived by the public from auto products.

     

  • German film icon, Dorothee Wenner, hits Nigeria with second screen project

    German film icon, Dorothee Wenner, hits Nigeria with second screen project

    HER love and passion for African cinema is remarkable. Thus, apart from serving on the jury of the prestigious Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), Dorothee Wenner’s first expedition of Nollywood, the biggest film industry in Africa came with Peace Mission, a documentary on the Nigerian motion picture industry through the eyes of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, founder and CEO of AMAA.

    On Wednesday July, 24, 2013, Wenner will again stage a Nigerian premiere of what she says is not a film about business, but a business on screen. Entitled DramaConsult, the premiere, which is planned in association with Film House Surulere, comes up at the Leisure Mall of the cinema outfit by 7pm.

    According to Wenner, DramaConsult is the name of an international consulting company which was invented for the documentary: “That was necessary because the services that explore and evaluate the striking reality of German-Nigerian business relations through concrete case studies, are not yet available in the market.”

    Investing in Nigeria is the best kept secret in the world – says Dolapo Ajayi, a high-end real estate developer from Lagos and very much an insider in this business landscape. DramaConsult strives to disclose this secret – with the active support of Ajayi himself and two further protagonists from the Nigerian metropolis: Sam Aniama is an experienced spare parts dealer, specializing in Volkswagen and Mercedes. Femi Oladipo, good looking start-up entrepreneur, manufactures shoes for fashion addicted Nigerian customers. As supporting team, DramaConsult backs up the three entrepreneurs with two ambitious consultants: Biyi Olugbodi and Jude Fejokwu; a short briefing for all participants and off they go. Their mission is the acquisition of German business partners and investors.

    The drama is an ethnographic expedition from Africa to Europe. The protagonists are real life businessmen from Lagos: A spare parts dealer, a real estate developer and a young shoe manufacturer with high-flying plans. Accompanied by two smart business consultants, the group travels to Germany to link up with potential partners and investors.

    The film tracks the process of economic intervention as an adventure trip in the era of globalization.