Strive Masiyiwa

Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean based in London and an international business leader. A telecommunications and technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, he has founded and invested in businesses globally, spanning Africa, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East, New Zealand, and the USA in nearly four decades as an entrepreneur.

Masiyiwa is the founder and Executive Chairman of South Africa-based Econet Group and Cassava Technologies and is one of the pioneers of the mobile telecoms industry on the African continent. Masiyiwa has also been involved in the development of Africa’s independent media.

In May 2020, Masiyiwa was appointed to serve as an African Union Special Envoy to help coordinate Africa’s private sector efforts to procure medical supplies and fight the spread of COVID-19. As Special Envoy he also headed up the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. He led a similar private sector initiative to fight Ebola in West Africa in 2014-2015.

Masiyiwa serves on the boards of Netflix Inc., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), and National Geographic Society, as well as global advisory councils including Bank of America, Stanford University, and Bloomberg New Economy Forum. Previously, he held board positions at Unilever Plc, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Morehouse College, among others.

Masiyiwa is a member of the Giving Pledge. In 1996, he and his wife, Tsitsi, cofounded what is now known as the Higherlife Foundation which has supported the education of over 250,000 orphaned, vulnerable, and gifted children across Africa, as well as health, disaster relief and preparedness, and rural transformation programs.

Masiyiwa received a bachelor of engineering degree from the University of Cardiff.