Strive T. Masiyiwa joined The Rockefeller Foundation board of trustees in 2003.
He is founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Group, comprising Econet Wireless and Cassava Technologies. Econet Group has operations and investments across Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the USA.
Cassava Technologies’ businesses include Africa’s largest open access cross-border fibre broadband network spanning 68,000+ miles, Africa’s largest network of interconnected carrier neutral data centers, cloud and cybersecurity, fintech, solar renewable energy, and on-demand digital platforms.
Mr. Masiyiwa currently serves on international boards including Unilever PLC, Netflix Inc., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Geographic Society, and global advisory councils including Bank of America and the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. Over the years Mr. Masiyiwa has played leading roles in several other prominent pan-African and international boards including The Rockefeller Foundation.
Mr. Masiyiwa served for nearly two years as an African Union Special Envoy for Covid response where he headed the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. He now serves as a Special Advisor to African Presidents on the US-Africa Leadership Summit initiative on food security.
Born in Zimbabwe and now living in London, Mr. Masiyiwa has won international recognition and numerous awards for business excellence. In 1999 he was named by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees) as one of the “Ten Most Outstanding Young Persons of the World.” In 2003 he was chosen as one of the “15 Global Influentials of the Year” in a CNN/Time magazine poll. In 2017 and 2021 he was selected by Fortune Magazine to its list of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders”. In 1923 Mr. Masiyiwa was elected an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He and his wife Tsitsi are co-founders of Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies whose primary focus is social impact investment and human capital development in education, health, rural transformation, sustainable livelihoods, and disaster relief and preparedness in Africa.