Strive Masiyiwa on Building a Billion Dollar Legacy in Africa and Beyond
About this episode
Strive Masiyiwa discusses his journey in building a billion-dollar legacy in Africa, focusing on telecommunications and philanthropy.
John Hope Bryant sits down with billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa and framing the conversation around the “African century.” Masiyiwa describes founding the Econet Group, defeating Zimbabwe’s state telecom monopoly through a Supreme Court constitutional ruling, relocating to South Africa to access capital, and expanding across Africa—especially Nigeria, where he assembled a local consortium to buy a $285 million mobile license and lived in Lagos to build the business. He explains shifting from mobile to fiber and satellite infrastructure, building 150,000 miles of network and connecting Africa east-to-west, then moving into data centers, mobile money, and global acquisitions. He outlines core operating values (innovation, people/product/process, diverse talent, faith lived through actions), discusses the Higher Life Foundation’s education and health work, and recounts leadership roles during Ebola and COVID responses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People in this episode
Host: John Hope Bryant
Guest: Strive Masiyiwa
Topics covered
- entrepreneurship
- African business
- telecommunications
- philanthropy
- leadership
- innovation
Keywords
- Strive Masiyiwa
- Econet Group
- telecom monopoly
- mobile money
- fiber infrastructure
- Higher Life Foundation
- African century
- leadership
- COVID response
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Econet Group, Higher Life Foundation
Places: Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria
More episodes of Money And Wealth With John Hope Bryant
- What is an Entrepreneur? The Truth About Building Something From Nothing
- Wealth Whispers: Why 'Quiet' May Be The Most Valuable Asset You Can Own
- AI Won't Take Your Job, But Someone Who Can Use AI Might
- Betting Against Yourself: Why The House Always Wins & How YOU Can Win Instead
- The Case for "Good" Capitalism
- The Ownership Generation
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Money And Wealth With John Hope Bryant podcast page.