Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa is a London-based Zimbabwean businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
Strive is the founder and executive chairman of diversified international telecommunications group Econet Wireless.
Masiyiwa was born in Zimbabwe on 29 January 1961. He attended primary school Zimbabwe and Zambia where his family had sought exile from the ongoing war in Rhodesia. He went on complete his secondary education at a private school in Scotland. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wales in 1983.
He worked briefly in the computer industry in Cambridge, England, but soon returned to Zimbabwe in 1984, hoping to aid the country’s recovery after the war of independence it had won in 1980.
Masiyiwa joined the Zimbabwe Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (ZPTC), the state-owned telephone company, as a senior engineer. ZPTC quickly promoted him to the position of principal engineer. Masiyiwa became frustrated with the government bureaucracy, however, and left ZPTC in 1988 to start an electrical contracting firm named Retrofit Engineering. He was chosen as Zimbabwe’s youngest-ever Businessman of the Year in 1990
Career:
- Telecomms engineer Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC), Zimbabwe (1984)
- He quit his job at PTC to build an electrical engineering business and diversified to mobile
- He is now the founder of the Econet Group which owns Econet Global, Econet Wireless Africa, Econet Wireless International, Econet Media, Econet Entreprises and Liquid Telecom Group. Also to note is that within these groups are a multiple companies you can check out over here
Philanthropy and Humanitarian:
Strive Masiyiwa is a well known international business leader who has won numerous international business and humanitarian awards. As a respected business leader Mr Masiyiwa speaks regularly on business and economic issues at major international gatherings.
Some of the philanthropic and humanitarian organisations he is involved in are:
- Econet Development Foundation
- Capernum Trust (founded in 1996 by Mr and Mrs Masiyiwa
- Joshua Nkomo Trust
- Global business Coalition for Education
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Africa Progress Panel
- Advisory Board for the Sustainable Energy for all Initiative
- Archibishop Desmoond Tutu’s eHealth Ambassadors Programme
- Member of the Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, initiative Giving Pledge
- Campaigns against HIV/AIDS, Cervical Cancer, malnutrition, and more recently EBOLA.
- He is an avid environmentalist and together with Sir Richard Branson founded the environmental group, the Carbon War Room
- Chairman of AGRA
- Chair of Grow Africa
- United Nations Advisory Councils, Board Member
- Rockefeller Foundation, Board Member
First Billionaire
Strive has become the first Zimbabwean Billionaire according to Forbes magazine. He has been ranked as 14th among Africa’s 23 billionaires.
