Strive Masiyiwa
Founder and Executive Chairman, Econet Group; Co-Founder, Higherlife Foundation
Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman, Econet Group; Co-Founder, Higherlife Foundation Strive Masiyiwa is a telecommunications and technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. In nearly four decades as an entrepreneur, he has started and invested in businesses throughout the world including Africa, the European Union, India, Latin America, the Middle East, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA. Some of his most prominent start-up companies and investments include Mascom Wireless Botswana, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria), Liquid Intelligent Technologies Group, Econet Wireless New Zealand (now 2degrees Mobile), Trilogy Capital Partners Canada (early investor), Cassava Technologies, Africa Data Centres, Sasai Fintech, and Telrad Group Israel. He continues to invest privately through his investment companies and family office. Strive currently serves as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Netflix Inc., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and National Geographic Society. He sits on several Global Advisory boards including Bank of America, Bloomberg New Economy Forum, and Stanford University. Among many honors, in 2014, 2017, and 2021, Strive was named on Fortune Magazine’s list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders and in 2019 received the Norman E. Borlaug World Food Prize Medallion. An International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Strive has received honorary doctorates from Yale University, Nelson Mandela University, Morehouse College, and Cardiff University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Engineering.
