Since 2007 the The Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited (BIHL) Group have, since 2007, come together to fulfill their corporate social investment (CSI) mandate under one umbrella called the BHL Trust.

The initiative is a strategy that enables BIHL and its subsidiaries to give back more to communities across Botswana. “The BIHL Group practices Corporate Social Responsibility everyday by simply observing our international corporate governance standards.

However in the CSI space we are more proactive on how we fulfill this mandate. To this end we have established the BIHL Trust to identify and support worthwhile initiatives in our communities,”said BIHL CEO Gaffar Hassam.

CSI within the BIHL group was traditionally carried out by the individual subsidiaries of BIHL. This support saw Botswana Life part fund the original production of Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat and Botswana Insurance Fund Management (BIFM) part fund the BIFM-EU concert which took place with the Maitisong festival.

The BIHL Trust was established to better coordinate how the group engaged with worthwhile CSI initiatives. The subsidiaries in the group,which include Botswana Life Insurance Limited, Bifm, Leagal Guard and most recently, the short term insurer BIHL Sure!, all contribute 1% of their annual profits to fund the trust.

Through pooling of resources more good can be achieved for communities that can benefit from the trust’s support. “The BIHL Trust supports initiatives that are proven to be sustainable. The BIHL Trust aims to support communities to help themselves with our support.

This is part of BIHL building stronger communities for a better tomorrow,” said Dr Happy Fidzani, the Trust’s Chairman.To date the Trust has supported initiatives across Botswana. These include the arts in collaboration with Thapong Visual Arts Centre; the Maruapula school orphan and Vulnerable Children’s Fund; the Gamodubu Child Care trust and Bana Ba Metsi in Shakawe.

Another BIHL Trust initiative is the BIHL Thomas Tlou Scholarship launched in 2011. the Scholarship is the cornerstone of the BIHL trust’s focus on education for 2012.

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