Huang suspends charity funding in Namibia

CHINESE mogul Jack Huang’s charity organisation says it will stop funding projects in the country because of a shrinking budget.

A public announcement made on Monday by the Namibia Chinese Loving Heart Organisation (NCLHO) said the group will suspend donations and charitable activities for the time being.

“The NCLHO has also undergone shrinkage and standstill in its donations and charitable activities,” the statement read.

The charity organisation, which Huang chairs, was founded in March 2007 with the aim of providing education and training as well as material support to vulnerable and disadvantaged Namibian groups.

reported last year that Huang, a self-described friend of president Hage Geingob, was granted bail of N$1 million after being implicated in a massive customs duties and foreign currency scam involving about N$3,5 billion.

The charges are based on allegations that false or manipulated import documentation had been used to send vast amounts of money out of Namibia – mostly to China – since 2013.

Huang told The Namibian yesterday that since the charity relies on the support of his other businesses in Namibia, these businesses were merely sustaining themselves, and cannot also support the NCLHO.

“For those children who are already studying under the programme, we are busy negotiating with the schools and other relevant parties to find a solution for them to complete school,” he said.

“I hope our businesses recover as soon as possible, and Namibia attracts more foreign investments, so that together we reboot the economy,” he added.

Huang said when the timing is right, he will grow his businesses, and work towards the rejuvenation of the economy.

The statement said besides a severe national financial crunch, Huang’s personal and global corporate reputation had been severely tarnished, and his extensive businesses and banking transitions in Namibia battered to an extent that little income was flowing in.

“Unfortunately and unexpectedly, the founder and sponsor of the NCLHO Jack Huang has been embroiled in an alleged financial case of tax evasion, attacked by a biased local media, mistreated by certain Namibian government agencies, denied credit funds by some local banks, and even detained at one time by police on groundless and unreasonable accusations at the beginning of 2017,” the announcement said.

According to the statement, more than 200 employees had to be retrenched, and most of Huang’s major expansion projects such as the construction of his group’s Namibian headquarters and the industrial warehouses in the Northern Industrial Area were stopped.

The organisation hopes that the country will improve its investment environment, with less negative and less xenophobic media targeting its foreign investors and businessmen.

The NCLHO has so far donated N$30 million, of which N$25 million was spent on education and vocational training. In addition, it has also assisted up to 34 Namibian students to study clinical medicine in China.

“So far, 15 students have graduated from this programme, five students are in their last year and doing internships and will graduate in 2019, 12 students are on campus, and two dropped out of school,” the letter stated, adding that there is still around N$4,26 million in tuition fees to be paid for the rest of the students to complete their studies under the programme.

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