S trive Masiyiwa is a London-based Zimbabwean billionaire who is a pioneer of the telecommunications industry in Africa. He is the founder and executive chairman of the pan-African technology group, Econet Global. After returning to his native Zimbabwe in the 1990s following his education and early career in the UK, he founded Econet Wireless. He then waged a landmark and protracted five-year legal and political battle against the Zimbabwean government's state-owned telecom monopoly to win a license to operate a mobile phone network. His victory is considered a watershed moment for private enterprise and the rule of law in the country.

He has since built Econet into a major telecommunications, media, and technology group with operations and investments in numerous African countries. His company, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, has built one of Africa's largest fiber optic networks, providing crucial internet infrastructure across the continent. Masiyiwa is also one of Africa's most prominent philanthropists. He and his wife, Tsitsi, are signatories of the Giving Pledge and have founded the Higherlife Foundation, which focuses on providing education to orphaned and underprivileged children.