Projects

Our Sponsor

WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc is a publicly limited liability company established under the laws of Sierra Leone (Companies Act 2009) on March 7, 2011. It was founded in the wake of the creation of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) in 1973. The vision of the founding fathers was to establish a reinsurance organization to address the shortage of reinsurance capacity within the West African insurance industry. WAICA RE is committed to corporate social responsibility, directing resources to ensure that the host communities and states where it operates also benefit from its initiatives.

Empowering Rural Women in the Shea Nut Value Chain

In 2022, Green Africa Trade Engagement (GATE) achieved recognition in the WAICA RE CSR Competition Project. Our project aims to empower rural women within the Shea Nut Value Chain, fostering their financial independence while ensuring environmental sustainability. Our primary objective is to enable these women to access the international shea market industry by helping them produce high-quality, traditionally processed shea nuts. We are partnering with local women’s groups in northern Ghana to preserve shea trees in two districts of the Northern Region. Our vision is to empower millions of rural women in Africa, recognizing their pivotal role in contributing significantly to the growth of their respective countries.

Shea Tree Planting Initiative

Our mission is to plant 10 million shea trees to promote environmental sustainability. With a network of over 3,000 rural women across more than 70 communities in Northern Ghana, we are dedicated to replenishing shea trees that have been felled for charcoal production. We’ve launched “Operation Plant Two Trees,” where each woman plants two shea trees, ensuring the sustainability of our environmental and long-term projects. The plan is for these women to, in turn, train and empower many others to engage in tree planting, thereby contributing to environmental preservation. As Lord Orrery famously stated, “Trees are the best monuments that a man can erect to his own memory; they speak his praises without flattery and are blessings to children yet unborn.

Empowering Rural Women with Comprehensive Insurance Coverage

As part of our unwavering commitment to enhancing the well-being of the rural women who are our valued partners, we extend to each of them a range of invaluable insurance coverages at no cost. These include Life Insurance, Total & Permanent Disability Cover, and Hospitalization Cover. Our primary aim is to ensure that in the unfortunate event of a woman’s passing, disability, or hospitalization, both she and her beneficiaries continue to enjoy a dignified standard of living.

Profit Sharing for Women's Empowerment

At Green Africa Trade Engagement (GATE), we proudly identify ourselves as a social business, guided by the principles of fair trade. It is our privilege to share our profits with the women who are at the heart of our mission. This profit-sharing takes place in two ways:

  1. Group Bonuses: We provide group bonuses to the 70 women’s groups we currently collaborate with. This not only motivates them but also empowers these groups, enabling them to support one another, particularly during the dry season. This support plays a significant role in helping the women initiate and sustain their businesses and contributes to their children’s education expenses.
  2. Individual Bonuses: Furthermore, individual women who achieve their goal of supplying us with a minimum of two bags of shea nuts receive a bonus from us after we make a profit from selling these nuts. This financial support significantly benefits the women and plays a role in poverty reduction in the region.

These initiatives have not only improved the financial stability of our women’s groups but have also contributed to the reduction in the extensive felling of shea trees for charcoal production, which was previously done to supplement household income.

Awards and Recognition

Green Africa Trade Engagement (GATE) proudly received the WAICA RE 2022 CSR Award, an honor bestowed during the ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya.