Our Star of the Week is Zelna Hengari the managing director of Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR), a state-owned enterprise (SOE) that has from the period 2015 to 2017 recorded combined revenue of N$679 million. This is despite the subdued state of the economy that has resulted in many SOEs underperforming.
Hengari said during the 2015/16 financial year, NWR earned revenue of N$300 million, while in 2016/17 it made N$379 million. She said the revenue was used to clear all NWR’s historical debts, which included tax liability of over N$33 million in 2015.
“Since then, NWR has not begged the government for bailouts to pay salaries,” Hengari said.
She extended thanks to the new board that was appointed in March 2016, saying it has brought significant changes. “Thus, NWR is doing exceptionally well compared to before.”