10 May 2017

BIHL trust has rolled out a new five year strategy to encourage education and finance skills development.

Speaking at a press conference in Gaborone on May 8, the trusts board of trustees chairperson, Major General Bakwena Oitsile said the new strategy would help contribute towards sustainable growth and the development of communities across the country.

“The 2017-2022 strategy will focus on supporting community projects that align with four areas namely: education, social upliftment, economic empowerment, public health, recreation and conservation of the environment,” he said.

Major General Bakwena further said the trust would support projects where the group could make a sustainable impact in the lives of Batswana, as they want to align it with Botswana’s Vision 2036 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

He said as part of the new strategy the trust has allocated a significant amount of their annual funding to education having been involved in the Adopt-a-School initiative where the trust has adopted 11 worst performing schools in a bid to transform their results.

The board has also chosen to refresh the strategic focus of the BIHL Trust Thomas Tlou Scholarship to support the pursuit of masters degrees in the business, finance and IT industries.

“BIHL Trust Thomas Tlou Scholarship aims to benefit talented young Batswana with aspirations to pursue postgraduate studies in a discipline that will in turn contribute towards socio-economic development,” Major General Oitsile added.

He said under social upliftment, the trust was looking forward to supporting projects that would allow the trust to be of influence in the protection and empowerment of Batswana.

Major General Oitsile further said they aim to partner with members of the public to initiate projects that contributed towards economic empowerment of Batswana.

“We have also chosen to include support for public health projects, recreation and conservation, this five-year-strategy is about us going deeper into more communities,” he said. ENDS