Benjamin Hauwanga

Last updated

Benjamin Hauwanga, commonly known as B.H., (born 24 September 1961 in Tsumeb, Oshikoto) is a Namibian businessman. His parents separated while he was a young boy; his mother single-handedly raised him, although his father visited the family regularly. He has eight siblings.

Contents

He was fascinated with business at a very young age; as a child he sold indigenous food after school to contribute to the household income while his mother worked as a domestic worker. As with every business, money is the key and the main objective: Whenever he got, he used the change to buy sweets and resold them at school to get more money and increase cash-flow.

At the age of nine, he started cleaning yards and got paid weekly. This was a great incentive for him but later he realized that the money coming in weekly was not enough to buy enough stock to satisfy the demand for the product (sweets) at school. He arranged to receive the money month-end; that improved the cash-flow and the stock levels. As the cash-flow improved, he bought a bicycle to extend his operations. The bicycle took him three years to pay off.

His first shop was a cardboard-box in front of his mother's house in the black township, called "the Location".

Business career

Hauwanga opened his first spares shop in Ongwediva, selling car parts. He grew this business from suppliers in Windhoek and Johannesburg and then to the world. He has several operations around the country and has expanded into neighboring Angola. His operations in Angola are property development; he has completed several projects in Angola.

Benjamin "BH" has branches of the BH Group of Companies across Namibia with branches in Kavango, Oshana, Omusati, Khomas and Ohangwena.

Benjamin Hauwanga joins an elite group of Namibian businessmen in owning a private plane. His Beechcraft 55 Baron aircraft is believed to have cost around N$3 million. He says he bought it to improve the logistical dimensions of his business operations. He bought it from Rami Barnes, a South African entrepreneur. [1]

Hauwanga is the owner of the Bennies Entertainment Park and Lodge in Ongwediva.

Controversies

In 2008, Hauwanga was involved in a legal saga with another prominent businessman, Harold Pupkewitz over money that the BH businesses claimed to have lost in non-existent orders and deliveries from Pupkewitz. The dispute arose from payments that BH Motor Spares alleges to have made to Pupkewitz for goods that they had neither ordered nor received. [2]

In 2009, BH was also involved in a scandal with the grandson of the former president Sam Nujoma. Joseph Nakanyala, grandson of Nujoma, tried to extort Hauwanga by using Nujoma's cell phone in June purporting to be the former president. In SMSs, Nakanyala threatened to kill Hauwanga if he did not give him money. Nakanyala was caught red-handed by the police while stealing a briefcase with money from Nujoma's residence and he later claimed that Hauwanga had sent him.[ citation needed ] Through thorough investigations it was concluded that Nakanyala made all the stories up in an attempt to extort Hauwanga. Nakanyala withdrew his claims and publicly apologized to Hauwanga through lawyer Sisa Namandje.[ citation needed ]

In a statement signed by Nakanyala, he acknowledged having made these allegations saying: "I had no basis and right at the time of making such allegations to accuse Mr Benjamin Hauwanga. I acknowledge and recognize that the allegations I made have injured the good reputation and name of Mr Hauwanga, and I unconditionally and unreservedly apologize to him , his family, friends and all those who have been affected and inconvenienced by the false allegations I made" the statement reads further. The two shook hands and embraced warmly after Nakanyala finished reading his apology. [3]

Honours

In 2011, Hauwanga received a master's degree in entrepreneurship ( honoris causa ) from the International University of Management (IUM). [4]

He received a Junior Achievement Laureate in Business in 2008. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Namibia</span> National economy

The economy of Namibia has a modern market sector, which produces most of the country's wealth, and a traditional subsistence sector. Although the majority of the population engages in subsistence agriculture and herding, Namibia has more than 200,000 skilled workers and a considerable number of well-trained professionals and managerials.

The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SWAPO</span> Political party in Namibia

The South West Africa People's Organisation, officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia. Founded in 1960, it has been the governing party in Namibia since the country achieved independence in 1990. The party continues to be dominated in number and influence by the Ovambo ethnic group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Nujoma</span> President of Namibia from 1990 to 2005

Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first president of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960. Prior to 1960, SWAPO was known as the Ovambo People's Organisation (OPO). He played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia's political independence from South African rule. He established the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962 and launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government of South Africa in August 1966 at Omungulugwombashe, beginning after the United Nations withdrew the mandate for South Africa to govern the territory. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hifikepunye Pohamba</span> President of Namibia from 2005 to 2015

Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and was reelected in 2009. Pohamba was the president of SWAPO from 2007 until his retirement in 2015. He is a recipient of the Ibrahim Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Namibia</span> University in Namibia

The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992.

The Oshakati City, also known as FNB Oshakati City due to sponsorship reasons, is a Namibian football (soccer) club from Oshakati. They play in the country's second division, the Namibia First Division. Oshakati is based in Oshakati city in the northern part of the country, it was there for name after the original town Oshakati and most of the players are based from that town. The club has a huge sponsorship backing by First National Bank of Namibia and a local business tycoon Benjamen (Kagau-B.H) Hauwanga the owner of the BH Group of Companies operating in Namibia and Angola. The club colors are red and white.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ongwediva</span> Town in Oshana Region, Namibia

Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. As of 2010 it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private schools and 13 government-run schools. Most of the inhabitants speak Oshiwambo.

Reinhard "Kalla" Gertze was a Namibian university lecturer and parliamentarian as a member of the Congress of Democrats (CoD) party. He was in the National Assembly from 2005 until his death in 2008 and had previously been a lecturer at the University of Namibia.

Mandume ya Ndemufayo was the last king of the Oukwanyama, a subset of the Ovambo people of southern Angola and northern Namibia. Ya Ndemufayo took over the kingdom in 1911 and his reign lasted until 1917 when he died of either suicide or machine gun fire while he was under attack from South African forces. Ya Ndemufayo is honoured as a national hero in both Angola and Namibia.

Johannes Martin "Hannes" Smith, affectionately known as Smithie, was a Namibian journalist, editor and publisher. He was first reporter at, then the editor of, the Windhoek Advertiser until 1978 when he and Gwen Lister founded the Windhoek Observer, the country's only Saturday paper at that time. He remained the owner and editor of the Observer until his death.

Fransisco Aupa Indongo, is a prominent Namibian businessman and former politician. He owns Continental Enterprises, Indongo Toyota, Frans Indongo Gardens, Farm Gelukwater, Select Service and Gas Station and various shares in mining and fishing companies in Namibia. He is the father-in-law of prominent lawyer Sisa Namandje and prominent banker Wosman Hamukonda. He is third on the list of Namibia's top ten richest people, behind the Pupkewitz and Olthaver & List families.

Victor Simunja is a Namibian politician. A member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Simunja was appointed to the National Assembly of Namibia in 2000 and served as Deputy Minister of Defense from 2000 to 2009. Simunja rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Namibian Defence Force prior to entering political office. He is a member of the Mafwe ethnic group, indigenous to the Caprivi Strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vito Roberto Palazzolo</span>

Vito Roberto Palazzolo is an Italian businessman previously living in South Africa. Born in Terrasini, he moved to South Africa in the mid-1980s. He also goes by the name Robert von Palace Kolbatschenko. He is alleged to be a member of the Sicilian Mafia, an allegation he denies. In March 2009, the highest court in Italy confirmed a 2006 nine-year sentence for association with the Mafia. He is alleged to be a Mafia treasurer linked to Bernardo Provenzano, the Mafia boss arrested in April 2006 in Corleone, Sicily, and his predecessor Salvatore Riina, both serving life sentences in Italian jails. Palazzolo maintains his innocence and claims that he has been persecuted by the Italian government, the press, lawyers, politicians, and "opportunists" for the last 19 years. On March 30, 2012 Palazzolo was arrested by Interpol at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.

Lieutenant General Martin Shalli is a former Namibian diplomat and military commander. In 2005, he was appointed as Namibia's High Commissioner to Zambia by President Sam Nujoma, but he was recalled in October 2006 by Nujoma's successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, and appointed as Chief of the Namibia Defence Force (NDF). He replaced controversial NDF commander Solomon Huwala, and he was replaced as High Commissioner to Zambia by regional councillor Solomon Witbooi.

Tuliameni Kalomoh is a Namibian diplomat who has among other portfolios served as Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs to the President, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia.

Aaron Twapewa Johannes Mushimba was a Namibian businessperson. Described as a business mogul, Mushimba was involved with the trading of diamonds. He was linked to Belgian American diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman. He was the chairperson of a Namibian investment group, PE Minerals, which holds the mining rights to the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia's ǁKaras Region. He is the brother-in-law of Namibia's founding President Sam Nujoma.

Harold Pupkewitz was a Lithuanian born, Namibian entrepreneur and member of the President's Economic Advisory Council. He was the Executive Chairman of Pupkewitz Holdings, a group of builders' merchants, car sale businesses, and a host of other enterprises, from its foundation in 1946 until his death. Pupkewitz directed the boards of several important Namibian companies, among them NamPost, NamPower, Telecom Namibia, and MTC Namibia, and served as president of a number of high-profile political and economical institutions.

Armando Pedro is an Angolan football coach and retired footballer who coaches Blue Waters of the Namibia Premier League.

References

  1. ↑ "Hauwanga gets wings". Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  2. ↑ "Millionaires in legal showdown". Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  3. ↑ "?Grandson of the Nation? Apologises to BH". Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  4. ↑ Nakale, Albertina (16 August 2011). "Business Degree Conferred On BH". New Era .[ permanent dead link ]
  5. ↑ "Laureate Ben Hauwanga | Junior Achievement Namibia". Ja-namibia.org. Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.