Times Of Swaziland: BILLIONAIRE KIRSH VISITS, BRINGS GOOD NEWS

BILLIONAIRE KIRSH VISITS, BRINGS GOOD NEWS
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Times Reporter on 16/12/2024 08:34:00


MBABANE - Natie Kirsh, accompanied by his wife Frances and members of his
family, spent the past week on a private visit in Eswatini.
During his visit, the billionaire renewed his love for the country, met old
friends and visited beneficiaries of the Kirsh Foundation Eswatini. Nathan
‘Natie’ Kirsh is a billionaire and philanthropist. He heads the Kirsh Group,
which holds a majority stake in New York cash and carry operation Jetro
Holdings, owner of Restaurant Depot and Jetro Cash & Carry.
During his time in the kingdom, Kirsh met with Inhlanyelo Fund beneficiaries:
Raymond Tsabedze, a wood sculptor at Ezulwini Crafts Market; Bhacaphi Maduna,
owner of a clothing shop at KaBhelina; Marrienade Shabangu and Tivelele Bhembe,
dressmakers at Mvutshini.
All beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to Kirsh and to Inhlanyelo Fund for
giving them the loan capital to start their businesses. They are four examples
of over 29 000 other emaSwati, over 70 per cent of them being females, who have
been able to fulfil their dreams of owning their own businesses and providing
for their families, thanks to the Kirsh family and Inhlanyelo Fund.
Donated
The Kirsh Foundation Eswatini (KFE) was established in 2020, as a Section 21
Association Not For Profit, after Kirsh donated all his business assets in
Eswatini to KFE. The founding Articles of KFE state that all profits will be
used exclusively for the benefit and welfare of emaSwati. Reflecting on that
decision, Kirsh stated: “With substantial and successful business interests
around the world, the time had come for me to focus on my legacy of philanthropy
in Eswatini and to support the country, where I founded my earliest entry into
business and where I raised my family: Eswatini, a place I will always call
home,” he continued.
“These business assets in KFE will function as an endowment, with their
profits providing ongoing funding for Inhlanyelo Fund and other charitable
causes that will benefit emaSwati for generations to come”. The nation will
recall that, during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020 to 2022, Kirsh and his family
donated over E325 million towards PPE procurement, oxygen production and supply,
and perhaps most critically, food support for hundreds of thousands of emaSwati
from the start of the crisis until its end in 2022. Kirsh ended his visit with a
strong statement of his and his wife’s emotional attachment to the kingdom and
its people; and of his intention to return for a longer visit to Eswatini in the
near future.