Nairobi bourse holds charity trading to save elephants

Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Friday raised over 57,450 U.S. dollars in charity trading, and the money will be used in wildlife conservation, in particular saving elephants.

The money brings to total the amount raised in the past two years during charity trading days to 129,476 dollars.

On Friday, NSE hosted over 10 performers, actors, journalists and other cultural icons who acted as guest traders at the Exchange's trading floor.

NSE chairman Sam Kimani said since its launch, the NSE Charity Trading Day has continued to make a great impact in the society by donating trading revenues one day each year to positively transform community through wildlife and nature conservation.

"All the equity trading revenues will be donated to diverse charity organizations selected by the Exchange with the lead beneficiary being Save the Elephant for its conservation efforts being undertaken in the Tsavo tracking project in conjunction with the Kenya Wildlife Service," Kimani said.

The elephant tracking project uses GPS-tracking equipment to understand elephant lives, decisions and needs.

The technology provides near-instantaneous observation of the GPS location of an animal within seconds of it being recorded, which helps in the deployment of ranger patrols, to assist in mitigating human-elephant conflict once a distress is noted.

"The Charity Trading Day is a very unique event that allows one to experience what goes on at the Exchange, interact with investors and convince them to make a trade for charity. I am grateful to the NSE team and other sponsors, for their energy and generosity in raising funds for elephant conservation efforts," said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, CEO and Founder of Save The Elephant.

Other beneficiaries of the trading proceeds will be the Borana Conservancy, where NSE adopted a rhino, two children's homes and Tusk Trust's new Samburu elephant sanctuary project. Endit