Advans Ghana Savings and Loans, a leading savings and loans company, has planted 1,111 seedlings in Accra and Tamale as part of its corporate social responsibility and commitment to combat climate change.
Advans Ghana, since 2019, has been involved in the planting of 1,450 trees under its corporate social responsibility programmes.
This year’s exercise was held under the theme ‘Greening Ghana: Planting Trees, Nurturing Lives’ and saw the company partner with the Forestry Commission, as well as volunteers drawn from its clientele and host communities to plant tree seedlings of the Acacia, Mahogany, African locust bean and Teak plants in the Chipa Forest Reserve, Accra and Zugu Forest Reserve, Tamale on July 21, 2023 and July 22, 2023, respectively.
The seedlings, when fully grown, will help mitigate climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, improve air quality, and reduce the effect of urban heat islands.
“In recent times, we have all observed and experienced the climate crisis hitting Ghana like many other parts of the world, with significant and sometimes devastating impact for many people. These negative impacts will be even stronger in the years to come and affect our way of living,” said Francis Owiredu, Deputy CEO of Advans Ghana.
“Given that our MSMEs and farmer clients are the most vulnerable and will be the most affected by climate change, it is essential for us to integrate its effects and impacts in our core business model. We believe that afforestation goes a long way in creating a positive impact on climate change.”
Justifying the company’s selection of Accra and Tamale for the exercise, Owiredu further added: “This year, we decided to plant 1,111 tree seedlings in Accra and Tamale as these cities are at high risk in terms of climate change, and we need to be contributing toward building resilience among both clients and the community”.
In addition to the CSR tree-planting, Advans Ghana has taken measures in recent years, including digitisation of some operational processes to significantly reduce its paper stationery consumption by 15 percent, thereby saving trees and improving environmental sustainability.
Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Ltd. is a subsidiary of the Advans Group, headquartered in Paris-France with a presence in 9 countries in Africa and Asia and serving more than 1.2 million clients.
In Ghana, Advans serves over 120,000 clients. It currently operates with 20 branches in 8 regions – Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong, Ahafo, Volta, Northern, Central and Eastern – with its target markets mainly being micro, small and medium-scale enterprises, not losing sight of individual clients.
