Friday, February 14, 2025

BIFM MAKES SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS REAL WITH HANDOVER

Against the background of forty years of heritage working to support Botswana, her communities and her people, Botswana Insurance Fund Management (Bifm) continues to seek ways to give back. Sustainability remains an integral part of the Bifm culture, with the business working to make sustainable progress real through projects across the spectrum of impact. This was made clear at a recent event hosted by the Bifm CEO, Mrs. Neo Bogatsu, as the business handed over furniture to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development on Thursday.

“With the refurbishment of our offices, which we have occupied since 2004, we felt that we could not just discard the furniture we had been using but rather see who we could donate it to,” said Bogatsu.

She added that they know that through their interaction with various local government offices through the BIHL Trust, that the Ministry could fully utilise the furniture. Bogatsu said the 213 items of furniture included: 1 board room table which seats 21 people, 79 office chairs, 42 office desks, 46 office credenza’s and 4 meeting room tables.

“Bifm and BIHL Group understand that corporates don’t operate in a vacuum; we know that we need to work with and assist government where we can,” said Bogatsu.

For her part, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Botlogile Tshireletso, when accepting the furniture on behalf of the Ministry, thanked Bifm for their generosity of spirit.

“On behalf of my Ministry a number of pieces of furniture from Bogatsu and her team, this will be put to good use within the Ministry premises.

She stated that there are items that Bifm found they no longer needed adding that they felt it would be wasteful to throw these out as many often times do when spring cleaning, moving, or replacing things with newer items. She further said wasteful is a key word here, for this becomes part of a much bigger conversation on ensuring that they as a community work together to ensure they halt any further development of a culture of waste amongst their fellow citizens.

The handover further highlighted the BIHL Trust commitment to growing Botswana and her people, with speakers commenting on some of the hallmark projects undertaken by the Trust on behalf of BIHL Group subsidiaries Bifm, Botswana Life, and Legal Guard. These include but are not limited to: the BIHL Trust Thomas Tlou Scholarship (currently 10 students undergoing their studies); P170,000 donated to Bana Ba Metsi in Shakawe for electrifying the school and assisting with building a computer room; and the Adopt a School Initiative where with adoption of 8 Primary Schools in Botswana and libraries established and furnished in each. 

“It is a gesture of good faith. It is a gesture to show that Bifm and the BIHL Group, and I strongly believe this to be true, values the importance of sharing resources that they are in a possession of, no matter how big or small,” said Tshireletso.

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