The Wolwedans Foundation Trust

Est. 2010

The Wolwedans Foundation Trust was established by NamibRand Safaris PTY LTD (NRS), the commercial entity funding and driving the Foundation. NamibRand Safaris PTY LTD t/a the Wolwedans Collection, has been operating in the greater Sossusvlei area as the Wolwedans Collection for the past twenty years.

The Foundation is run by a Board of Trustees and a management committee who oversee governance, project development and administration.

NamibRand Safaris (NRS) – as a corporate citizen – has the development of Namibia and the wellbeing of its people at heart. To this end, under the primary patronage of the Wolwedans Foundation, two vocational training institutions were initiated during 2007. These are: the Wolwedans Desert Academy, which focuses on hospitality training and NICE (The Namibian Institute of Culinary Education) with special focus on chef training. 

The aim of establishing the Foundation was to have an entity through which the company  could handle its corporate social responsibility commitments. The Foundation stands on 3 core pillars, these being Community, Conservation and Culture. The two training institutions, DA & NICE are combined under the Community pillar.

Both institutions were created in co-operation with the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB) and the Namibia Training Authority (NTA), the collective aim being to assist in raising the skills level of the tourism workforce and the quality of our national hospitality product. This in turn, will improve employment opportunities, job security and provide sustainable income for the future within the sector.

In 2007, under the patronage of the NTA and the Namibian Tourism Board (NTB), both DA and NICE were identified as pilot projects in which the NTA could test its newly designed Level 1 & 2 Hospitality & Tourism Qualifications. The training results were tremendously successful, and the Wolwedans Foundation was able to equip its graduates with practical knowledge and expertise, enabling them to enter the hospitality and tourism job market. Subsequently, NICE was tasked to pilot Level 3, which too was a great success.

The Wolwedans Foundation vision

‘We have the development of Namibia and the wellbeing of its people at heart. Since its inception, Wolwedans has been guided by an approach where people, planet and profit are equally important. Over the last 9 years, the Wolwedans Foundation, through its vocational training projects, has trained in excess of 250 young Namibians as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR).'

The Wolwedans Foundation mission

‘People Matter. We want our team and Namibians as a whole to enjoy improved livelihoods and practice sustainable lifestyles. We commit ourselves to this goal by prioritizing human resource development, social upliftment, sharing economic opportunities and the encouragement of others to help build a better tomorrow. In addition, we ‘commit to human resource development by giving education and training the highest priority. We support people to develop their individual potential and strengthen their life skills.’

As a responsible corporate citizen, we are committed to continue our investment in human capital development. To broaden the scope and increase trainee output, The Wolwedans Foundation seeks like-minded partners who can come on board and assist us in achieving our goals – for the benefit of our country and its people.