The Business and Recycling of Christmas trees in Africa

Christmas (Christian Mass) is an increasingly popular annual religious tradition of the nativity, which is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and his legacy of joy of enlightenment, peace on earth, freedom, civility, and unity of all mankind. This custom is celebrated with exchange of gifts, sharing of stories and musical cantata, as well as displays and decorations such asChristmas trees.

Christmas has become the largest annual economic stimulus for many nations around the world. Sales increase dramatically in almost all retail areas and shops introduce new products as people purchase gifts, decorations, and supplies. There are approximately 400 million Christians in Africa who celebrate the Christmas tradition. Although plastic trees and inflatable Santa Claus were popular in Africa, new wealth effect, new level of sophistication, explosion of Christian growth and the influx of foreigners are creating a boom in Christmas tree sales.

Few years ago, Burundi's government banned cutting down of trees to be used for Christmas festivities. The country claimed it had lost enough of its forest cover and could not afford any more trees to be cut down. Join us as we explore the pros and cons in the business and recycling of Christmas trees in Africa.

Host: Ernest K. Opong
Contributor: Wasiu Alade
Producer: Wale Ajibade