Strive Masiyiwa

Join us for a fireside chat with investor and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa.

Moderated by Dean David Marchick. 

One of the pioneers of the mobile telecoms industry in Africa, Strive Masiyiwa is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Group which comprises Cassava Technologies and Econet Wireless. The Group has operations and investments primarily in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

In 1993 Masiyiwa founded Econet Wireless, the mobile telephone networks and mobile money business of Econet Group, now headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. Masiyiwa later founded and served as Executive Chairman of Cassava Technologies, Africa’s leading technology company on a continental scale.

Born in Zimbabwe and based in London, Masiyiwa had the vision 20+ years ago to create an entire ecosystem of digital infrastructure and service solutions to connect people and businesses across the African continent. Cassava Technologies now encompasses Africa’s largest open access cross-border fiber broadband network spanning 60,000+ miles, Africa’s largest network of interconnected carrier-neutral data centers, renewable energy, cloud and cybersecurity, fintech, and on-demand digital platforms.

Masiyiwa currently serves on several international boards including Unilever PLC, Netflix Inc, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Geographic Society, and global advisory boards including Bank of America, US Council on Foreign Relations, and Bloomberg New Economy Forum. Masiyiwa is the only African member of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience. For almost two years until early 2022, he served as an African Union Special Envoy for COVID response.

He previously served for 15 years on the board of the Rockefeller Foundation, and for over three decades has played leading roles in several other prominent international boards and initiatives focused on digital transformation, youth entrepreneurship, public health crises, education, agricultural development, and environmental protection.

In 1996, Masiyiwa and his wife Tsitsi co-founded Higherlife Foundation and later, Delta Philanthropies, whose primary focus is social impact investment in human capital development to build thriving individuals and communities in Africa. They are signatories of the Giving Pledge.