Strive Masiyiwa

Founder and Chairman, Econet Group

Strive Masiyiwa is the Founder and Chairman of the Econet Group, a pan-African telecommunications, media and technology company with operations and investments in 29 countries. He serves on several international boards including Unilever, National Geographic Society and the Global Advisory boards of the Council on Foreign Relations and Stanford University. A former board member of the Rockefeller Foundation for 15 years, he also serves as Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). He previously served on the Africa Progress Panel, and juror on the Hilton Humanitarian Prize. As a philanthropist, Masiyiwa is a member of the Giving Pledge, and his contributions to education, health and development have been widely recognized. Masiyiwa and his wife finance the Higher Life Foundation, which has supported the education of over 250,000 African orphaned, vulnerable and gifted children over the past 20 years. 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 followership of over 4-million young people from across the continent.