Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean born businessman, cellphone pioneer and founder of Econet Wireless. Zimbabwe's telecom magnate Strive Masiyiwa founded mobile phone company Econet in 1993. Masiyiwa created a foundation that provides scholarships to orphans, including those whose parents have died of AIDS.
Background
His mother was an entrepreneur involved in the informal economy in what was then called Southern Rhodesia; she made enough money to send Masiyiwa to secondary school in Scotland and then the University of Wales, where he studied electrical engineering. He returned to worked for newly independent Zimbabwe's state telecom company before starting Econet. Today he serves as its chairman. Publicly traded Econet controls Mascom, which has 70% market share in neighboring Botswana. It also operates in Kenya and Burundi, and is the only African-based company with a telecom license in the UK (Econet Satellite Services). It has won a 3G license in New Zealand and will roll out a network there once the market is fully liberalized. With Sir Richard Branson, Masiyiwa is a co-founder of the Carbon War Room, a global, independent non-profit established to help entrepreneurs unlock market-driven solutions to climate change.
Education
By the time Masiyiwa was 12 years old, his parents could afford to provide him with a coveted European education. They sent him to private school in Edinburgh, Scotland.
When he graduated in 1978, he traveled back to Zimbabwe, intending to join the anti-government guerilla forces there. "One of the senior officers told me 'Look, we're about to win anyway, and what we really need is people like you to help rebuild the country'" ( Time , December 2, 2002). Masiyiwa took the man's advice and returned to school in Britain, earning a degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Wales in 1983.
Career
Strive Masiyiwa was the maverick founder, chairman, and CEO of Econet Wireless Holdings, a diversified international telecommunications group based in South Africa with operations on three continents. A devout Christian noted for his determination and social conscience, Masiyiwa was called a hero for helping millions of Africans gain access to the modern world through affordable cellular telephones.
Politics
Strive Masiyiwa, is one of the financiers of the ruling Peoples Party (PP)