AfricaPress-Tanzania: SOME of the country’s top chief executive officers and managing directors are rallying behind their peer, Simon Karikari, the CEO of Tigo Tanzania in donating trees to support the telecommunications company’s campaign targeting to plant 28,000 trees around Africa’s rooftop.
“I am honoured to donate 100 trees in addition to the 10,000 trees already donated by Tigo Tanzania,” said Karikari after joining forces with his company to back the campaign which has since lured top CEO and MDs in the country.
“I would like to take this opportunity to challenge my entire executive committee to donate 400 trees for this cause and I also want to challenge my good friend Sanjay Rughani, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank and Chairman of CEOs Round-table to donate 100 trees for this cause,” said Karikari.
Little did he know that the campaign will soon gather strength online with Minister of Information, Arts, Sports and Culture, Innocent Bashungwa joining the course thanks to an invitation from Clouds Media Group CEO, Joseph Kusaga who also donated 100 trees.
“I have received the challenge thrown to me by Clouds Media Group’s CEO, Joseph Kusaga to support this noble cause of conserving the environment at Mount Kilimanjaro and therefore contribute 110 trees,” said Bashungwa who then threw the ball to CRDB Group CEO, Abdulmajid Nsekela to play his part.
Nsekela added 150 and ropped in Air Tanzania Company Limited’s Managing Director, Engineer Ladislaus Mwamanga who donated 200. “I challenge my peer, Hamza Johari of Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority to back this campaign.
With a target to plant 28,000 trees before the end of this year, the ‘TigoGreenForKili’ campaign seems to be an all CEOs and MDs affair although everyone is welcomed to participate and indeed may ordinary people have already joined.
The price of each tree seedling is only 5,000/- and members of the public including those that reside around the iconic mountain playing a key role in the campaign. According to environmental experts, over the past 50 years, the glacier cap at the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro has been diminishing because of global warming blamed on human activities including indiscriminate cutting of trees.
Experts say that rampant deforestation around Africa’s rooftop has caused critical changes in local weather patterns and rainfall hence causing the rapid thawing of the glacier cap. Studies have also shown that, if left unchecked, the glacier cap at Mount Kilimanjaro, will disappear by 2033.
Currently, 85 percent of the cap has disappeared over the last 100 years which in turn has caused major changes at the over 5,000 metres high mountain. “As sponsors of the Tigo Kilimanjaro Half Marathon for six consecutive years, we are starting off 2021 on the right foot by helping to conserve the environment around Kilimanjaro as well as help bring back the snow on Mount Kilimanjaro,” said Tigo Tanzania Northern Zone Director, Godfrey Kinabo when he kick-started the campaign earlier this year.
Kinabo said the Tigo Green For Kili-One Step One Tree campaign is involving all members of the public who are concerned with environmental conservation to ensure that the next generation of Tanzanians have a feel of their beautiful heritage.
“Apart from sponsoring the annual half marathon event which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world, we at Tigo felt that we have an obligation to contribute towards the conservation of the area around Mount Kilimanjaro,” Kinabo noted saying the telco’s corporate social responsibility policy backs conservation.
The Tigo Director further explained that, the telco is ambitious to help restoring what has been taken away from the iconic mountain which several decades back had a massive glacier at the peak. “That is why Tigo Tanzania in collaboration with the charitable-based organization called Voice of Empowered Women Foundation (VOEWOFO) came up with ‘Tigo Green For Kili’ project,” Kinabo noted.
On her part, VOEWOFO Director, Asifiwe Mallya applauded Tigo’s management for coming up with the noble project to conserve Africa’s roof top. “We are looking forward to the afforestation of the whole region as we kicked off this project in collaboration with Tigo Tanzania. The move is a major step towards reaching a target of making the area greener for future generations,” Mallya explained.
Chief guest at the launch, Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Dr Anna Mghwira also paid tribute to Tigo Tanzania for coming up with the unique project to restore Mount Kilimanjaro’s virgin ecology. ”Take this project as yours, and I urge all stakeholders to join forces and donate tree seedlings, so that the great Mount Kilimanjaro can continue to maintain its snow cap,” the RC insisted.
Residents of the mountain’s neighbourhoods have welcomed Tigo’s initiative with anxiety and a pledge to support the noble cause. “We are looking forward to work with Tigo and other likeminded people to ensure that reforestation of all areas around Mount Kilimanjaro succeeds,” said Benson Ndosi, Chairman of Maiputa location in Hai District where the campaign was kick-started.
Ndosi acknowledged that rampant tree felling by residents who heavily rely on biomass as a source of energy is the reason behind rapid deforestation of the slopes of Africa’s highest mountain. “I urge all stakeholders to join forces and donate tree seedlings for the campaign to succeed,” he said while pledging to mobilize residents of his area to play a leading role in the yearlong campaign.
During the event, the Iringa-based diary industries company, ASAS donated a total of 1,000 trees, while the Tanzania Forest Services pledged to donate a record 10,000 tree seedlings, as TFS Zonal Deputy Manager in Northern Zone, Neema Mawanja said.
