Strive Masiyiwa
Zimbabwean founder of Econet and Cassava Technologies
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- 65 yrs
- Birthday in 86 days
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Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean businessman who fought a five-year legal battle to launch Econet Wireless, the country’s first private mobile network, in 1998. He built Econet into a pan-African telecoms group and founded Cassava Technologies, and is a major philanthropist.
Biography
Background
Masiyiwa’s family left white-ruled Rhodesia when he was seven. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Wales and returned to work for Zimbabwe’s telecoms company.
Econet
From 1993 he sought a licence for a private mobile network. After a court battle against the state monopoly, Econet launched in 1998.
Pan-African
Econet expanded across Africa and beyond, and its spin-offs included Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a fibre network, and EcoCash mobile money. Cassava Technologies works on AI data centres in Africa.
Philanthropy
He and his wife Tsitsi fund scholarships for orphans through the Higherlife Foundation. He has served on the boards of Netflix and Unilever.
Timeline
-
1961
Born in Zimbabwe
-
1993
Seeks mobile licence
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1998
Econet Wireless launches
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2000
Moves to South Africa
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2011
EcoCash
-
2021
Cassava Technologies
Did you know?
-
1
He was the first Black Zimbabwean billionaire.
-
2
His foundation has supported hundreds of thousands of students.
-
3
He lives in London.
Connections
Frequently asked
Who is Strive Masiyiwa?
Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean businessman who fought a five-year legal battle to launch Econet Wireless, the country’s first private mobile network, in 1998. He built Econet into a pan-African telecoms group and founded Cassava Technologies, and is a major philanthropist.
How old is Strive Masiyiwa?
Strive Masiyiwa is 65 years old, born on 29 January 1961 in Zimbabwe.
Where is Strive Masiyiwa from?
Strive Masiyiwa was born in Zimbabwe.
What is Strive Masiyiwa known for?
Strive Masiyiwa is best known for Founding Econet Wireless; legal fight for a mobile licence in Zimbabwe; Cassava Technologies; philanthropy.
References
- Strive Masiyiwa — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Strive Masiyiwa (Q7624176) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Strive Masiyiwa”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Strive Masiyiwa.” TrackFame, last updated 4 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/strive-masiyiwa
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