I
have a nephew that was born recently. He is a handsome young man, named John
after my grandfather, and I have been looking for a gift worthy his cute smile
and great name. I gave his brother an investment in a stock fund a few years
ago after a suggestion from my sister, but the fund hasn't increased very much.
So for John I decided to give him an alternative investment - an investment in
African trees! Again, this is one of those investments with a long investment
horizon but I figured if someone can wait for the money, it is a newborn!
I
invested with Better Globe (www.betterglobe.com),
a company that started year 2006 and operates mainly in Kenya. The business and
investment idea is to plant trees in Africa and sell them to companies and
private investors. The company market their product as “prosperity with
purpose”, hinting that it is not only trees that the investor invests in, but
also in the future of Africa. And Africa definitely needs help; every day
30,000 children die from a combination of disease-infested water and
malnutrition, and only 57 percent of African children are enrolled in primary
education - one in three of those does not complete school. The list can be
made long for all the help Africa is in need of.
Therefore Better Globe combines an investment with help to Africa by offering gift- and donation tree packages for a low cost. In the gift package for only 17 Euro (about 23 USD), you get:
·
Two Better Globe trees to the gift
receiver with a profitable return
·
500 liters of water for locals
·
1.5 Euros for school building
·
1.5 Euros for microfinance operations
The
planted trees of Better Globe are a mix of acacia senegal (gum arabic) and
mukau (tropical hardwood). Acacia Senegal
has a wide usage and is used among others in Coca-cola, food and candy. The
mukau tree can get 20 meters high and is very suitable for construction
purposes and furniture.
Better
Globe manages the trees on the owner’s behalf for 20 years until it is ready to
be harvested. From year five to year 20 you will get a yearly 15% return on
your invested money (paid out every 5th year). So if you buy a
donation package for 17 Euro you will in 20 years receive 191 Euro. Sounds
pretty good to me. But does it work? Well, we’ll see in five years when the
first payment is due. I do have my hopes up. There is a blogger, Jan Bolmeson,
that claims that he has received his first payment and he seems trustworthy
(see http://www.rikatillsammans.se/om-rikatillsammans
for more information). He is actually also a representative for Better Globe so
he might be a bit biased but I have read quite a lot about him and he seems a
person I can rely on.
Being
a Better Globe representative, an ambassador, is a nice perk for anyone who
wants to become a part of this organization – and there is some money in it for
the ambassadors as well…
If
you liked this post, please click on “like” on the red Google+ sign (“g+1”) on
the top of this page, thanks!
/Chris