Continental Reinsurance is collaborating with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation to plant 2,000 trees, as part of efforts to preserve the environment.

A statement from the firm recently said that the tree planting initiative was launched at the Lekki Conservation Centre in Lagos State, Nigeria, with sponsorship from Continental Reinsurance.

At the launch, the Executive Director of Technical Operations at Continental Re, Chukwuemeka Akwiwu, led officials present to plant some trees.

Speaking at the tree-planting event, Akwiwu said that Continental Re would continue to offer support to the NCF on the initiative.

 “At Continental Re, we are pleased to support this noble cause with the initial donation of 2,000 trees for now, which will be used as we foster a healthier, greener Nigeria. This is just the beginning, and I intend that we should be having this conversation on an annual basis,” he stated.

The partnership between Continental Reinsurance and NCF began last year and has since grown stronger.

The collaboration was highlighted at the ninth Continental Reinsurance CEO Summit in Zimbabwe, where NCF’s participation inspired insurance industry leaders.

The Director of Business Development and Communications, Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Uchenna Achunine, said Continental Reinsurance was a special partner in its advocacy for nature conservation, and its activities that were geared towards building a better environment for all.

He highlighted the importance of partnerships in achieving ambitious environmental goals and emphasised the role of NCF in helping restore Nigeria’s forest cover to 25 per cent by 2047.

Achunine explained, “Today, we have between four and eight per cent forest cover, depending on whose statistics you are using.  Some statistics say it is four per cent, some say seven per cent, but it is not more than eight per cent of the quality forest cover we have today, and it is quite well below what the standard is.  Before, we had more than 25 per cent forest cover.  So, our project is targeted at trying to see if we can recover Nigeria’s forest cover to 25 per cent by 2047.”

Continental Reinsurance is the largest private pan-African composite reinsurer that writes businesses in more than 50 African countries, which are serviced from its six client service centres in Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Botswana and Tunisia.