Page 5 - Issue 9

People

Strive Museyiwa:

Profile of an

eminent African

Billionaire

Strive Masiyiwa

trive Masiyiwa is a London- The family settled in Kitwe, a city in business, known as Econet Wireless.
Sbased Zimbabwean billionaire north central Zambia known for its
businessman, and philanthropist. He copper mines. Masiyiwa’s mother was Masiyiwa listed Econet Wireless
is the founder and executive chairman an entrepreneur. His father worked at Zimbabwe in July 1998 on the local
of the telecommunications, technology first in one of the nearby mines but later stock exchange as a gesture of thanks to
and renewable energy company Econet joined the family business. By the time reward the thousands of ordinary people
Global. He has won numerous accolades Masiyiwa was 12 years old, his parents who supported him during his long
and gained international recognition for could afford to provide him with a legal battles against the Zimbabwean
his business expertise and philanthropy, coveted European education. government. Today, Econet Wireless
and is considered one of Africa’s most Zimbabwe has gone on to become a
generous humanitarian. They sent him to private school in major business that dominates the
Edinburgh, Scotland, graduating Zimbabwe economy. It is currently the
Masiyiwa has used his wealth to provide in 1978, and later earning a degree second-largest company in Zimbabwe
scholarships to over 250,000 young in Electrical Engineering from the by market capitalization.
Africans over the past 20 years through University of Wales in 1983. He worked
his family foundation. He supports briefly in the computer industry in In March 2000, fleeing persecution
over 40,000 orphans with educational Cambridge, England, but soon returned from the local authorities, Masiyiwa
initiatives, as well as sponsoring students to Zimbabwe in 1984, hoping to aid left Zimbabwe, never to return to the
at universities in America, The United the country’s recovery after the war of country, and moved first to South Africa,
Kingdom, and China. independence it had won in 1980. where he founded The Econet Wireless
Group, a new and completely separate
Over the last few years, Masiyiwa has Strive Masiyiwa returned to his native organization to the listed Zimbabwean
devoted his time to mentoring the next Zimbabwe in 1984 after a 17-year entity.
generation of African entrepreneurs on absence. After working briefly as a
Facebook. Facebook has identified his telecoms engineer for the state-owned His main interest remained in telecoms.
platform as having the most engaged telephone company, he quit his job Some of the key businesses that he
following of any business leader in the and set up his own company with the established with partners included
world. Masiyiwa also funds initiatives in equivalent of US$75 Econet Wireless International, Econet
public health and agriculture across the Wireless Global, Mascom Wireless
African continent. In five years, he had emerged as one Botswana, Econet Wireless Nigeria (now
of the country’s leading industrialists, Airtel Nigeria), Econet Satellite Services,
Strive Masiyiwa was born in Zimbabwe having built a large electrical engineering Lesotho Telecom, Econet Wireless
on 29 January 1961. He attended primary business. The emergence of mobile Burundi, Econet Wireless South Africa,
school in Zambia before completing cellular telephony led him to diversify Solarway, and Transaction Processing
his secondary education in Scotland. into telecoms, but he soon ran into Systems (TPS) and bought interest in
When he was seven, his family had fled major problems when the Zimbabwean Rwanda Telecom,
the country as Ian Smith’s embattled government of Robert Mugabe refused
government began to crumble. to give him a license to operate his He also has interests in mobile operations

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