Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa (born 29 January
1961) is a London-based Zimbabwean
businessman, entrepreneur, and
philanthropist. He is the founder and
executive chairman of diversified
international Telecommunications,
Media and Technology group Econet
Wireless and Econet Media (Kwesé) .
Masiyiwa is a member of the Africa
Progress Panel (APP) , a group of ten
distinguished individuals who
advocate at the highest levels for
equitable and sustainable
development in Africa. As a Panel
Member, he facilitates coalition
building to leverage and broker
knowledge and convenes decision-
makers to influence policy for lasting
change in Africa.
He has won numerous accolades and
gained international recognition for
his business expertise and
philanthropy, and is considered one of
Africa's most generous
humanitarians. [2] Masiyiwa has used
his wealth to provide scholarships to
over 100,000 young Africans over the
past 20 years through his family
foundation. He supports over 40,000
orphans with educational initiatives,
as well as spophp
ring students at
universities in America, The United
Kingdom, and China. [3][4] Over the
last few years, Masiyiwa has devoted
his time to mentoring the next
generation of African entrepreneurs
through his Facebook page, which has
a growing follower-ship of over 2.5
million people from across the
continent. Facebook has identified his
platform as having the most engaged
following, of any business leader in
the world. [5]
Masiyiwa also funds initiatives in
public health and agriculture across
the African continent. [6]
Early life and
education
Strive Masiyiwa was born in
Zimbabwe on 29 January 1961. He
attended primary school in Zambia
before completing his secondary
education in Scotland . He holds a
degree in Electrical Engineering from
the University of Wales .
Global influence
Masiyiwa's international board
appointments include The Rockefeller
Foundation ,[7] US Council on Foreign
Relations International Advisory
Board, [8] the Asia Society , the Africa
Progress Panel (APP), [9] Alliance for a
Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), [10]
The Micronutrient Initiative of
Canada, [11] Grow Africa, The African
Union's (AU) EBOLA Fund,[12]
Morehouse College Board, [13] and
The Pan African Strategic Institute.
Masiyiwa also sits on two United
Nations Advisory Panels[14] and is the
only African member of the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum's
Committee on Conscience. [15]
Leadership and
international accolades
In 1998, the World Junior Chamber of
Commerce named Masiwa one of the
"10 most outstanding young leaders
of the world", an accolade previously
bestowed to John Kennedy .
In 2003, a CNN Time magazine poll
named Masiyiwa as one of the most
influential business leaders in the
world.
In 2012, President Barack Obama
invited Masiwa and four other
business leaders to attend the 38th
G8 summit at Camp David to address
them on strategies on how to increase
food production and end poverty in
parts of Africa. [16]
In 2014 Fortune Magazine named
Masiwa one of the 50 most influential
business leaders in the world. [17]
In September 2014, the Chair of the
African Union (AU), Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma , asked Masiyiwa to help
mobilise resources for Africa's
response to the EBOLA outbreak. This
was the first time The AU had asked a
business leader to undertake such a
role. [18][19] Masiyiwa, with the help of
other leaders, set up the first ever Pan
African fund raising campaign known
as #AfricaAgainstEbola Solidarity
Fund. [20]
The fund has raised millions of US
dollars from the public using SMS
donations, with contributions coming
from many African countries. The
donations enabled The AU to deploy
the largest known contingency of
African healthcare workers to combat
the spread of the deadly
pandemic. [21]
In 2015 Forbes Magazine named
Masiyiwa in the 10 Most Powerful
Men in Africa list for 2015. [22]
In 2015, the International Rescue
Committee (IRC ) awarded Masiyiwa
the Freedom Award. [23][24] The
award is given annually to an
individual who makes an extraordinary
contribution towards supporting
refugees and championing the causes
of liberty, individual freedom, and
dignity. [25]
At the UN Global Leadership, 2015
awards dinner in New York, USA; The
Africa Against Ebola Campaign was
recognised for their humanitarian
contributions and outstanding work in
response to the Ebola epidemic. [26]
Chairman of the Trust, Masiyiwa
accepted the award on behalf the
Africa Against Ebola Solidarity
Trust. [26][27]
In 2017 Fortune Magazine named
Strive Masiyiwa number 33 in the
World's Greatest Leaders list for 2017
along with Elon Musk and LeBron
James . [28]
Business career and
interests
Strive Masiyiwa returned to his native
Zimbabwe in 1984 after a 17-year
absence. After working briefly as a
telecoms engineer for the state-
owned telephone company, he quit his
job and set up his own company with
the equivalent of US$75. [29] In five
years, he had emerged as one of the
country's leading industrialists, having
built a large electrical engineering
business. [30] The emergence of
mobile cellular telephony led him to
diversify into telecoms, but he soon
ran into major problems when the
Zimbabwean government of Robert
Mugabe refused to give him a license
to operate his business, known as
Econet Wireless. [29]
Masiyiwa appealed to the
Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, on
the basis that the refusal constituted
a violation of "freedom of expression".
The Zimbabwean court, then one of
the most respected on the continent,
ruled in his favour after a five-year
legal battle, which took him to the
brink of bankruptcy. [31][29] The
ruling, which led to the removal of the
state monopoly in
telecommunications, is regarded as
one of the key milestones in opening
the African telecommunications
sector to private capital. [32] The
company's first cellphone subscriber
was connected to the new network in
1998. [33]
Masiyiwa listed Econet Wireless
Zimbabwe in July 1998 on the local
stock exchange as a gesture of thanks
to reward the thousands of ordinary
people who supported him during his
long legal battles against the
Zimbabwean government. [34] Today,
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has gone
on to become a major business that
dominates the Zimbabwe
economy. [35] It is currently the
second-largest company in Zimbabwe
by market capitalisation. [36]
In March 2000, Masiyiwa left
Zimbabwe, never to return to the
country, and moved first to South
Africa, where he founded The Econet
Wireless Group, a new and completely
separate organisation to the listed
Zimbabwean entity.
His main interest remained in
telecoms. Some of the key businesses
that he established with partners
included Econet Wireless
International, Econet Wireless Global,
Mascom Wireless Botswana, Econet
Wireless Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria),
Econet Satellite Services, Lesotho
Telecom, Econet Wireless Burundi,
Rwanda Telecom, Econet Wireless
South Africa, Solarway, and
Transaction Processing Systems
(TPS). He also has interests in mobile
operations in New Zealand, Bolivia,
and the Dominican Republic. The
company he created is known to have
operations and investments, in more
than 20 countries, including the
United Kingdom, US, Latin America,
and New Zealand, United Arab
Emirates, and China. [37][38]
After more than ten years in South
Africa, Masiyiwa moved to London;
however, he still retains significant
business interests in South Africa.
Econet Wireless Group
(Econet)
Econet Wireless (Econet) is a privately
held global telecommunications
company with business operations
and investments in more than 20
countries in Africa, Latin America, The
United Kingdom, Europe, China, United
Arab Emirates (UAE), and New
Zealand . The only listed entity is its
Zimbabwean subsidiary. The
Zimbabwean business is often
mistaken as the holding company,
because it is listed.
Masiyiwa also has interests in the
United States of America (USA). He
has partnered with one of America's
leading telecoms entrepreneurs, John
Stanton, in a venture called Trilogy
International Partners, which built
New Zealand's third mobile network
operator known as "2 Degrees".
Masiyiwa's investment in Seattle
based Trilogy International, have also
helped him secure interests as an
investor in Viva's Bolivia and
Dominican Republic businesses.
Masiyiwa also has a controlling
interest in a company based in
Vermont USA, that manufacturers
nano fibre carbon products, called
Seldon Technologies.
One of Masiyiwa's most successful
ventures is the London-based
privately held Liquid Telecom Group ,
Africa's largest satellite and fibre
optic business spanning over 14
countries. [39]
Other activities of Econet include
enterprise networks, financial services,
renewable energy, television and
media (Kwesé TV).
Philanthropy and
humanitarian
initiatives
Masiyiwa is generally recognised as
one of the most prolific
philanthropists to ever come out of
Africa. [2] He has used his own family
fortune to build one of the largest
support programs for educating
orphans in Africa. At any given time
his family foundations support and
educate more than 40,000
children. [40][4] Masiyiwa is also a
member of the Bill Gates and Warren
Buffett initiative known as the Giving
Pledge . [41]
Masiyiwa is also involved in
supporting a diverse range of health
issues including 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. [42]
He recently [43] took over, from former
UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, the
chairmanship of AGRA, an
organisation that supports Africa's
smallholder farmers. [43] In 2013, he
was appointed co-chair of Grow
Africa, the investment forum for
Africa's agriculture, which has helped
mobilise over US$15 billion in
investments for African
agriculture. [44]
Personal fortune
There are no reliable estimates of
Masiyiwa's wealth because the vast
majority of his business investments
are held in private businesses. The
only publicly known information is
that of his listed business in
Zimbabwe, the country he left 15
years ago. Based on this, Forbes
Magazine estimates put Masiyiwa's
personal wealth at US$1.7 billion. [45]
Honours and awards
1990 – Zimbabwean Businessman
of the Year Award (youngest ever
recipient of the award)
1998 – Zimbabwean Manager and
Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
1999 – Junior Chamber
International (JCI) – Ten Most
Outstanding Young Persons of the
World
2002 – Times Global Business
Influentials List. [46]
2003 – CNN/ Time magazine Poll –
15 Global Influentials of the
Year. [47]
2010 – Builder of the Modern Africa
Award
2011 – Forbes Magazine – 20 Most
Powerful Business People in
African Business. [48]
2011 – Times of London – 25
Leaders of Africa's Renaissance
Award. [49]
2012 – Invited by President Barack
Obama to attend G-8 Summit at
Camp David (G-8 Summit, Camp
David) [16]
2014 – Fortune Magazine – 50
most influential leaders in the
world[17]
2015 – Forbes Magazine – 10 Most
Powerful Men in Africa list for
2015. [22]
2015 – African Business Awards –
Lifetime Achievement Award. [50]
2015 – Brand Africa Awards –
Lifetime Achievement Award. [51]
[52]
2015 – Freedom Award –
International Rescue
Committee. [23][53]
2017 – Fortune Magazine named
Strive Masiyiwa number 33 in the
World's Greatest Leaders list for
2017 [28]
References
1. ^ "Africa's Billionaires" . Forbes.
2. ^ a b "The Philanthropy of Africa's
40 Richest" . Forbes. Africa.
Retrieved 29 November 2011.
3. ^ "The Millionaire's Wife Who
Feeds 40,000 Children" . Forbes.
Africa. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
4. ^ a b "Zimbabwe's Richest Couple
Feed And Educate 40,000 Orphans
and Vulnerale Children" .
Blacklikemoi . Africa. Retrieved 10
October 2013.
5. ^ "Influencers: Business
Leaders" . Crowdtangle . USA.
Retrieved 24 August 2017.
6. ^ "Econet Foundation" .
7. ^ "Rockefeller Foundation Board of
Trustees-Strive-Masiyiwa" .
8. ^ "Council on Foreign Relations
Global Board of Advisors" .
9. ^ "APP Board of Trustees-Strive-
Masiyiwa" .
10. ^ "AGRA Board of Directors" .
11. ^ "Micronutrient Initiative Board
of Trustees-Strive-Masiyiwa" .
12. ^ "Africa Against Ebola Board of
Trustees-Strive-Masiyiwa" .
13. ^ "Morehouse College Board of
Trustees-Strive-Masiyiwa" .
14. ^ "Sustainable Energy for All
Board of Trustees-Strive-Masiyiwa" .
15. ^ "Holocaust Memorial Museum
Board of Directors" .
16. ^ a b "Masiyiwa to address G8
leaders" . New Zimbabwe. Africa.
Retrieved 18 May 2012.
17. ^ a b "Fortune ranks the World's
50 Greatest Leaders" . Fortune . New
York. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
18. ^ "Part 5.
#AfricaUnitedAgainstEbola" . Strive
Masiyiwa Blog . London. Retrieved 12
November 2014.
19. ^ "African Answers Ebola" .
Aljazeera . London. Retrieved 12
November 2014.
20. ^ "Billionaires Aliko Dangote,
Strive Masiyiwa, Patrice Motsepe Join
Fight Against Ebola" . Forbes.
Newyork. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
21. ^ "African Private Sector Takes
Responsibility" . Aljazeera . London.
Retrieved 21 November 2014.
22. ^ a b "10 Most Powerful Men in
Africa list for 2015" . Forbes. Africa.
Retrieved 10 March 2015.
23. ^ a b "2015 Freedom Award
Dinner" . IRC . New York. Retrieved 4
November 2015.
24. ^ "IRC Freedom Award Dinner
2014" . IRC Storify . New York.
Retrieved 4 November 2015.
25. ^ "IRC Freedom Award Dinner" .
IRC . New York. Retrieved 29 October
2015.
26. ^ a b "UN Foundation Honors
Visionaries" . UN Foundation . New
York. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
27. ^ "Africa Against Ebola Award" .
Africa Against Ebola . New York.
Retrieved 4 November 2015.
28. ^ a b "Masiyiwa joins Fortune
Magazine's top 50 leaders" .
Retrieved 28 March 2017.
29. ^ a b c "Struggling for the
Impossible" . Good Governance Africa.
30. ^ "Lesson from the early days" .
Strive Masiyiwa Blog . Retrieved 10
February 2014.
31. ^ "Victory in Court" . Strive
Masiyiwa Blog .
32. ^ "Out of Zimbabwe, a telecoms
boss means serious business in
Africa" . The Guardian . Retrieved 30
July 2009.
33. ^ "Strive Masiyiwa: Founder of
Econet Wireless" . Time .
34. ^ "How We Raised Money" .
Strive Masiyiwa Blog .
35. ^ "Econet ZIA Life Time Award" .
Tech Zim .
36. ^ "Zimbabwe GDP may be
understated" . Tech Zim .
37. ^ "Econet Wireless Cashless
Society" . The Guardian .
38. ^ "Econet Companies" . Econet
Group Website .
39. ^ "Many Rivers to Cross" . The
Economist . Retrieved 5 July 2014.
40. ^ "The Millionaire's Wife Who
Feeds 40,000 Children" . Forbes.
Africa. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
41. ^ "The Giving Pledge" .
42. ^ "Carbon War Room
Founders" .
43. ^ a b "Kofi Annan Steps Down as
Chair of AGRA" . Kofi Annan
Foundation . Africa. Retrieved 16
December 2013.
44. ^ "AGRA in 2013" (PDF) . AGRA .
2013. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
45. ^ "Africa's Billionaires" .
46. ^ "Strive Masiyiwa" .
47. ^ "Strive Masiyiwa" .
48. ^ "20 Most Powerful Business
People in African Business" . Forbes
Africa.
49. ^ "25 Leaders of Africa's
Renaissance Award" . Fortune .
London. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
50. ^ "African Business Awards" .
African Business Magazine . London.
Retrieved 24 September 2015.
51. ^ "Best Brands Africa" . South
African . Africa. Retrieved 24 October
2015.
52. ^ "Africa's Most Admired
Brands" . South African . Africa.
Retrieved 28 October 2015.
53. ^ "IRC Freedom Award Dinner
2015" . IRC Storify . New York.
Retrieved 4 November 2015.
External links
Econet Wireless Group
Strive Masiyiwa's profile page
Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0
unless otherwise noted.
Terms of Use • Privacy • Desktop
Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa in 2017
Born 29 January 1961 (age 57)
Rhodesia
(now Zimbabwe)
Residence United Kingdom
Nationality Zimbabwean
Alma mater University of Wales
Occupation Businessman
Known for Philanthropy
Net worth US$1.7 billion [1]
Title Founder and Chairman of global telecommunications group Econet Wireless.
Board member of Unilever
Rockefeller Foundation
Africa Progress Panel
Morehouse College
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Ashinaga (organization)
Spouse(s) Tsitsi Masiyiwa
Children 6
Website www.econetwireless.com/strive_masiyiwa.php
1961) is a London-based Zimbabwean
businessman, entrepreneur, and
philanthropist. He is the founder and
executive chairman of diversified
international Telecommunications,
Media and Technology group Econet
Wireless and Econet Media (Kwesé) .
Masiyiwa is a member of the Africa
Progress Panel (APP) , a group of ten
distinguished individuals who
advocate at the highest levels for
equitable and sustainable
development in Africa. As a Panel
Member, he facilitates coalition
building to leverage and broker
knowledge and convenes decision-
makers to influence policy for lasting
change in Africa.
He has won numerous accolades and
gained international recognition for
his business expertise and
philanthropy, and is considered one of
Africa's most generous
humanitarians. [2] Masiyiwa has used
his wealth to provide scholarships to
over 100,000 young Africans over the
past 20 years through his family
foundation. He supports over 40,000
orphans with educational initiatives,
as well as spophp
ring students at
universities in America, The United
Kingdom, and China. [3][4] Over the
last few years, Masiyiwa has devoted
his time to mentoring the next
generation of African entrepreneurs
through his Facebook page, which has
a growing follower-ship of over 2.5
million people from across the
continent. Facebook has identified his
platform as having the most engaged
following, of any business leader in
the world. [5]
Masiyiwa also funds initiatives in
public health and agriculture across
the African continent. [6]
Early life and
education
Strive Masiyiwa was born in
Zimbabwe on 29 January 1961. He
attended primary school in Zambia
before completing his secondary
education in Scotland . He holds a
degree in Electrical Engineering from
the University of Wales .
Global influence
Masiyiwa's international board
appointments include The Rockefeller
Foundation ,[7] US Council on Foreign
Relations International Advisory
Board, [8] the Asia Society , the Africa
Progress Panel (APP), [9] Alliance for a
Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), [10]
The Micronutrient Initiative of
Canada, [11] Grow Africa, The African
Union's (AU) EBOLA Fund,[12]
Morehouse College Board, [13] and
The Pan African Strategic Institute.
Masiyiwa also sits on two United
Nations Advisory Panels[14] and is the
only African member of the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum's
Committee on Conscience. [15]
Leadership and
international accolades
In 1998, the World Junior Chamber of
Commerce named Masiwa one of the
"10 most outstanding young leaders
of the world", an accolade previously
bestowed to John Kennedy .
In 2003, a CNN Time magazine poll
named Masiyiwa as one of the most
influential business leaders in the
world.
In 2012, President Barack Obama
invited Masiwa and four other
business leaders to attend the 38th
G8 summit at Camp David to address
them on strategies on how to increase
food production and end poverty in
parts of Africa. [16]
In 2014 Fortune Magazine named
Masiwa one of the 50 most influential
business leaders in the world. [17]
In September 2014, the Chair of the
African Union (AU), Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma , asked Masiyiwa to help
mobilise resources for Africa's
response to the EBOLA outbreak. This
was the first time The AU had asked a
business leader to undertake such a
role. [18][19] Masiyiwa, with the help of
other leaders, set up the first ever Pan
African fund raising campaign known
as #AfricaAgainstEbola Solidarity
Fund. [20]
The fund has raised millions of US
dollars from the public using SMS
donations, with contributions coming
from many African countries. The
donations enabled The AU to deploy
the largest known contingency of
African healthcare workers to combat
the spread of the deadly
pandemic. [21]
In 2015 Forbes Magazine named
Masiyiwa in the 10 Most Powerful
Men in Africa list for 2015. [22]
In 2015, the International Rescue
Committee (IRC ) awarded Masiyiwa
the Freedom Award. [23][24] The
award is given annually to an
individual who makes an extraordinary
contribution towards supporting
refugees and championing the causes
of liberty, individual freedom, and
dignity. [25]
At the UN Global Leadership, 2015
awards dinner in New York, USA; The
Africa Against Ebola Campaign was
recognised for their humanitarian
contributions and outstanding work in
response to the Ebola epidemic. [26]
Chairman of the Trust, Masiyiwa
accepted the award on behalf the
Africa Against Ebola Solidarity
Trust. [26][27]
In 2017 Fortune Magazine named
Strive Masiyiwa number 33 in the
World's Greatest Leaders list for 2017
along with Elon Musk and LeBron
James . [28]
Business career and
interests
Strive Masiyiwa returned to his native
Zimbabwe in 1984 after a 17-year
absence. After working briefly as a
telecoms engineer for the state-
owned telephone company, he quit his
job and set up his own company with
the equivalent of US$75. [29] In five
years, he had emerged as one of the
country's leading industrialists, having
built a large electrical engineering
business. [30] The emergence of
mobile cellular telephony led him to
diversify into telecoms, but he soon
ran into major problems when the
Zimbabwean government of Robert
Mugabe refused to give him a license
to operate his business, known as
Econet Wireless. [29]
Masiyiwa appealed to the
Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, on
the basis that the refusal constituted
a violation of "freedom of expression".
The Zimbabwean court, then one of
the most respected on the continent,
ruled in his favour after a five-year
legal battle, which took him to the
brink of bankruptcy. [31][29] The
ruling, which led to the removal of the
state monopoly in
telecommunications, is regarded as
one of the key milestones in opening
the African telecommunications
sector to private capital. [32] The
company's first cellphone subscriber
was connected to the new network in
1998. [33]
Masiyiwa listed Econet Wireless
Zimbabwe in July 1998 on the local
stock exchange as a gesture of thanks
to reward the thousands of ordinary
people who supported him during his
long legal battles against the
Zimbabwean government. [34] Today,
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has gone
on to become a major business that
dominates the Zimbabwe
economy. [35] It is currently the
second-largest company in Zimbabwe
by market capitalisation. [36]
In March 2000, Masiyiwa left
Zimbabwe, never to return to the
country, and moved first to South
Africa, where he founded The Econet
Wireless Group, a new and completely
separate organisation to the listed
Zimbabwean entity.
His main interest remained in
telecoms. Some of the key businesses
that he established with partners
included Econet Wireless
International, Econet Wireless Global,
Mascom Wireless Botswana, Econet
Wireless Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria),
Econet Satellite Services, Lesotho
Telecom, Econet Wireless Burundi,
Rwanda Telecom, Econet Wireless
South Africa, Solarway, and
Transaction Processing Systems
(TPS). He also has interests in mobile
operations in New Zealand, Bolivia,
and the Dominican Republic. The
company he created is known to have
operations and investments, in more
than 20 countries, including the
United Kingdom, US, Latin America,
and New Zealand, United Arab
Emirates, and China. [37][38]
After more than ten years in South
Africa, Masiyiwa moved to London;
however, he still retains significant
business interests in South Africa.
Econet Wireless Group
(Econet)
Econet Wireless (Econet) is a privately
held global telecommunications
company with business operations
and investments in more than 20
countries in Africa, Latin America, The
United Kingdom, Europe, China, United
Arab Emirates (UAE), and New
Zealand . The only listed entity is its
Zimbabwean subsidiary. The
Zimbabwean business is often
mistaken as the holding company,
because it is listed.
Masiyiwa also has interests in the
United States of America (USA). He
has partnered with one of America's
leading telecoms entrepreneurs, John
Stanton, in a venture called Trilogy
International Partners, which built
New Zealand's third mobile network
operator known as "2 Degrees".
Masiyiwa's investment in Seattle
based Trilogy International, have also
helped him secure interests as an
investor in Viva's Bolivia and
Dominican Republic businesses.
Masiyiwa also has a controlling
interest in a company based in
Vermont USA, that manufacturers
nano fibre carbon products, called
Seldon Technologies.
One of Masiyiwa's most successful
ventures is the London-based
privately held Liquid Telecom Group ,
Africa's largest satellite and fibre
optic business spanning over 14
countries. [39]
Other activities of Econet include
enterprise networks, financial services,
renewable energy, television and
media (Kwesé TV).
Philanthropy and
humanitarian
initiatives
Masiyiwa is generally recognised as
one of the most prolific
philanthropists to ever come out of
Africa. [2] He has used his own family
fortune to build one of the largest
support programs for educating
orphans in Africa. At any given time
his family foundations support and
educate more than 40,000
children. [40][4] Masiyiwa is also a
member of the Bill Gates and Warren
Buffett initiative known as the Giving
Pledge . [41]
Masiyiwa is also involved in
supporting a diverse range of health
issues including 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. [42]
He recently [43] took over, from former
UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, the
chairmanship of AGRA, an
organisation that supports Africa's
smallholder farmers. [43] In 2013, he
was appointed co-chair of Grow
Africa, the investment forum for
Africa's agriculture, which has helped
mobilise over US$15 billion in
investments for African
agriculture. [44]
Personal fortune
There are no reliable estimates of
Masiyiwa's wealth because the vast
majority of his business investments
are held in private businesses. The
only publicly known information is
that of his listed business in
Zimbabwe, the country he left 15
years ago. Based on this, Forbes
Magazine estimates put Masiyiwa's
personal wealth at US$1.7 billion. [45]
Honours and awards
1990 – Zimbabwean Businessman
of the Year Award (youngest ever
recipient of the award)
1998 – Zimbabwean Manager and
Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
1999 – Junior Chamber
International (JCI) – Ten Most
Outstanding Young Persons of the
World
2002 – Times Global Business
Influentials List. [46]
2003 – CNN/ Time magazine Poll –
15 Global Influentials of the
Year. [47]
2010 – Builder of the Modern Africa
Award
2011 – Forbes Magazine – 20 Most
Powerful Business People in
African Business. [48]
2011 – Times of London – 25
Leaders of Africa's Renaissance
Award. [49]
2012 – Invited by President Barack
Obama to attend G-8 Summit at
Camp David (G-8 Summit, Camp
David) [16]
2014 – Fortune Magazine – 50
most influential leaders in the
world[17]
2015 – Forbes Magazine – 10 Most
Powerful Men in Africa list for
2015. [22]
2015 – African Business Awards –
Lifetime Achievement Award. [50]
2015 – Brand Africa Awards –
Lifetime Achievement Award. [51]
[52]
2015 – Freedom Award –
International Rescue
Committee. [23][53]
2017 – Fortune Magazine named
Strive Masiyiwa number 33 in the
World's Greatest Leaders list for
2017 [28]
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Masiyiwa" .
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Trustees-Strive-Masiyiwa" .
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Magazine's top 50 leaders" .
Retrieved 28 March 2017.
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Impossible" . Good Governance Africa.
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Strive Masiyiwa Blog . Retrieved 10
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Masiyiwa Blog .
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July 2009.
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Retrieved 4 November 2015.
External links
Econet Wireless Group
Strive Masiyiwa's profile page
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Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa in 2017
Born 29 January 1961 (age 57)
Rhodesia
(now Zimbabwe)
Residence United Kingdom
Nationality Zimbabwean
Alma mater University of Wales
Occupation Businessman
Known for Philanthropy
Net worth US$1.7 billion [1]
Title Founder and Chairman of global telecommunications group Econet Wireless.
Board member of Unilever
Rockefeller Foundation
Africa Progress Panel
Morehouse College
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Ashinaga (organization)
Spouse(s) Tsitsi Masiyiwa
Children 6
Website www.econetwireless.com/strive_masiyiwa.php
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