Telecoms tycoon Masiyiwa named in Britain’s rich list

Zimbabwe-born telecoms mogul Strive Masiyiwa has been named in the Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated wealth of $1.5 billion becoming the first black billionaire in Britain’s list of the richest people.

The telecoms tycoon, 60, who lives in London also serves on the boards of Netflix and Unilever and is the African Union’s special envoy on the COVID-19 pandemic and already secured over 400 million doses of the COVID vaccine for the continent, which is home to 1.3 billion people.

Masiyiwa first set up his company Econet in 1993 and after a 5-year protracted legal battle with the Robert Mugabe regime that went all the way to the constitutional court, and almost took him to the brink of bankruptcy, he managed to launch a mobile phone network – Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in 1998.

Today, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, is the second-largest by market capitalisation and Masiyiwa later told Forbes Magazine that the launch of the network took place ‘at a time when 70% of the country inhabitants had never heard a ringtone’.

After leaving Zimbabwe, Masiyiwa initially moved to South Africa where he launched a new Econet Wireless group. The Econet Wireless group now operates across Africa, Europe, South America and the East Asia Pacific Rim.

Philanthropic work

Strive Masiyiwa now has a reputation as one of the most prolific African philanthropists, focusing in particular on young people.

• He founded the Higherlife Foundation which pays school fees for some 40,000 students in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Burundi and Lesotho who are either orphaned or from low-income families.
• He has provided scholarships to more than 250,000 young Africans over the past 20 years through his family foundation.
• Established the Ambassador Andrew Young Scholarship, which enables African students to attend the Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, US.
• Secured over 400 million COVID-19 vaccines for Africa’s 1.3 billion strong population.

In 2012, Masiyiwa and four other business leaders were invited by President Barack Obama to attend the 38th G8 summit at Camp David to address them on strategies on how to increase food production and end poverty in parts of Africa.

In 2014, Fortune Magazine named Masiyiwa as one of the 50 most influential business leaders in the world. Masiyiwa made the Forbes billionaire sheet in 2018, with his total worth then estimated to be around $2.3billion.

Strive Masiyiwa has now been listed on the Sunday Times Rich List as Britain’s first black billionaire.

Report source: techmetroafrica