On 18 November 2021, Higherlife Foundation Co-Founder and Co-Chair, Strive Masiyiwa was recognized as the leading shaper of Africa’s digital landscape by the Africa Report in its first ever ranking of 40 of the digital economy’s power players.
A leader in an industry that has continued to exceed expectations in Africa, telecommunications, Mr. Masiyiwa continues to ensure the growth of his group Econet through his leadership and innovations that “build the future for Africa’s youth, providing jobs, opportunities and access to knowledge.”
For more than two decades Strive Masiyiwa’s lifelong commitment to move African communities through digital transformation, entrepreneurship and philanthropy sets him apart and should truly be celebrated. Together with his wife Tsitsi Masiyiwa, they started Higherlife Foundation a social impact organization that has grown to contribute towards Africa’s development by implementing projects in Education; Global Health; Rural Transformation and Sustainable Livelihoods; and Disaster Relief and Preparedness, impacting millions of lives in the communities it serves. Since 1996, the Foundation has sent over 350,000 students to school and impacted hundreds of thousands more through its various programming activities.
Throughout his work Strive Masiyiwa’s passion for putting Africa on the map remains steadfast. He is a member of the SMART Africa board, where he contributes to digital transformation strategy throughout the African continent. Strive Masiyiwa, is also a member of the task force set up by the African Union (AU) to fight against COVID-19 and sits as on the boards of several multinationals including Unilever, National Geographic Society, Asian Society and the Global Advisory boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, Netflix and Stanford University. Through his Facebook page that is followed by over 5 million young people across Africa—the most engaged following of any business leader in the world- Mr. Masiyiwa mentors young entrepreneurs across the continent of Africa.
